Native Hawaiians are experiencing mobility challenges at higher rates and younger ages than other ethnic groups in Hawai‘i.
That’s according to recent research by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Hā Kūpuna National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders. The study found that 28% of Native Hawaiian adults ages 55 and older reported mobility limitations, which includes challenges with agility, balance and fall risk. The rates for white, Filipino and Japanese adults 55 and older ranged from 17% to 19%.
The findings surprised Miquela Ibrao, who is the lead research and associate director of Hā Kūpuna.
“I had purposely sampled people younger, starting at the age of 55 because there were other studies indicating that there may be mobility limitations younger for the age group, and I was curious about that,” she told HPR. “It was one of the key findings of the studies that Native Hawaiian adults were reporting mobility limitations in that 55 to 64 age group at higher rates than their white Filipino and Japanese counterparts.”
Ibrao used data from the Hawai‘i Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System collected between 2019 and 2021. It’s a telephone health survey system that’s run by state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ibrao said that she requested three years of data to give researchers enough data to “maintain anonymity” with the number of people surveyed for the study.
“This isn’t something that it’s the same person that is surveyed again and again, so we can’t track how mobility affects them across the lifespan,” she said. “It’s giving us a keyhole shot into what mobility looked like that year among the people who were surveyed, and then we’re able to make estimates and project disparities.”
She’s hoping that the study will have healthcare professionals begin screening for mobility limitations at an earlier age. Screening normally starts for people 65 and older.
Ibrao said she wants to continue the study by looking at what causes mobility challenges at earlier ages and to find ways to prevent the issues.
