Apparent coverage advantage fades for Mexicans with disabilities
After age and sex adjustment, Mexicans with disabilities had similar odds of lacking coverage to those without disabilities, with an odds ratio of 0.99.
3 years, cohort study, dose-response
Limit: Disability definitions varied across data sources
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
People in Mexico with and without disabilities were compared in an observational study of nine national data sources from 2017–2023, analyzed separately. Census data represented 6.8 million people with disabilities.
Their apparent social security coverage advantage disappeared after accounting for age and sex. Fuller adjustment left slightly lower odds of lacking coverage. The authors attributed the pattern to older age and reliance on programs not tied to contributions. A separate survey of 11,913 adults aged 20 and older found higher prevalence across all nine conditions assessed among people with disabilities. In a cohort of 10,268 adults aged 50 and older, three-year mortality was 18.1% among those with disabilities versus 3.5% among those without. Disability remained associated with higher mortality after adjustment. Coverage through programs not tied to contributions was not associated with lower mortality.
Why it matters
The findings bear on how social protection should address disability in older age. The authors called for disability-inclusive coverage that translates enrollment into effective protection.
Caveats
Most analyses were cross-sectional and could not establish cause and effect; disability definitions varied across sources. The mortality findings concerned adults aged 50 and older, not the entire Mexican population.
The paper
Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear; Universidad de Guadalajara
Frontiers in Public Health, Jul 2, 2026, Open access
