Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics of study participants

From: Health care experiences of U.S. Retirees living in Mexico and Panama: a qualitative study

Demographic characteristics

Mexico (n = 23)

Panama (n = 23)

P-value for difference

Mean (SD)

Range

Mean (SD)

Range

Age

69.9 (6.8)

59.0 – 87.4

68.1 (4.5)

60.8 – 80.6

0.40

Years living in Mexico or Panama

7.2 (5.6)

1.0 – 20.0

6.4 (12.2)

0.6 – 60.6

0.78

Spanish proficiency (0 = none to 10 = native)

4.7 (2.3)

0.0 – 9.0

4.2 (2.4)

0.5 – 8.0

0.51

 

N

%

N

%

 

Gender (female)

15

65.2

8

34.8

0.08

Race (White/Caucasian)

23

100

18

78.3

0.05

Marital status

    

0.29

  Married

14

60.9

17

73.9

 

  Widowed

     

  Separated/divorced

6

26.1

5

21.7

 

  Never married

3

13.0

1

4.4

 

Education

    

0.13

  High school or less

3

13.0

0

0.0

 

  Some college

2

8.7

8

34.8

 

  College degree

4

17.4

4

17.4

 

  Post-graduate degree

14

60.9

11

47.8

 

Income (monthly)

    

0.04

  $1,000-$1,999

6

26.1

2

8.7

 

  $2,000-$2,999

8

34.8

8

34.8

 

  ≥ $3,000

9

39.1

13

56.5

 

Medical and functional characteristics

N

%

N

%

 

Hospitalized in Mexico or Panama during prior 2 years

11

55.0

17

73.9

0.22

Days hospitalized among participants hospitalized [Mean (SD), Range]*

4.9 (4.8)

1 – 17

3.3 (1.6)

1 – 6

0.36

Had a chronic illness requiring ongoing care

17

77.3

19

82.6

0.72

Requires supervision or assistance with:

     

  Feeding self

1

4.3

0

0.0

0.48

  Walking a block

2

8.7

3

13.0

0.67

  Dressing self

2

8.7

0

0.0

0.09

  Bathing self

2

8.7

0

0.0

0.09

  Using telephone

1

4.3

0

0.0

0.22

  Shopping for groceries

2

8.7

0

0.0

0.14

  Reliably taking medications

1

4.3

0

0.0

0.19

  Handling finances

1

4.3

0

0.0

0.43

Depression

3

13.0

2

8.7

0.61

Incontinence

3

13.0

2

8.7

0.61

Number of medications [Mean (SD), Range]

4.9 (2.8)

2 – 12

4 (3.3)

0 – 10

0.39

  1. *Outlier of 75 days removed from Mexican dataset; with outlier, mean (SD) = 11.9 (22.6), p < 0.01.