Race/color functional limitation disparities in a "racial democracy": findings among middle-aged and older adults in Brazil.

objectivesBrazil is rapidly aging and expected to have increased rates of functional limitation. While some literature has analyzed race/color functional limitation disparities, no documented research has examined such disparities between age groups that lived through Brazil's different political regimes. Guided by a life course perspective, we examine this research gap.

methodsWe used wave 1 (2015-2016) data (n = 8,980) from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study on Aging to examine race/color disparities in difficulty with mobility, episodic memory, near vision, and hearing. We computed age group-specific (i.e., 50-59; 60-69; 70-79; 80+) regression models of each difficulty while adjusting for demographic (age, sex), early-life (urban/rural childhood, mother's education, father's education, childhood health), socioeconomic (education, household income, work demand), health (comorbidities, medical care), social ties (marital status, living children, household size), and place (region, urban/rural residence) characteristics.

resultsIn ages 50-59, compared to White respondents, Black, Brown, and Indigenous respondents reported variations of greater difficulty with mobility, episodic memory, near vision, and hearing. In ages 60-69 and 70-79, Black and Brown respondents had worse episodic memory, while only Brown respondents had worse near vision. In ages 80+, only Brown respondents had worse episodic memory but better near vision. Early-life and place factors accounted for many of the Black and Brown disparities, respectively. DISCUSSION: Race/color disparities in functional limitation were less common among the older, particularly Black, segment of Brazil's population, while factors that shaped these disparities varied by race/color. This variance is influenced by divergent life conditions in 20th-century Brazil.