Beyond the Ability to Pay: The Health Status of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders in Relationship to Health Insurance (original) (raw)
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Self-Rated Health Status Comparing Pacific Islanders to Asians
Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 2012
Disease reporting for Asians/Pacific Islanders often conflicts and is, many cases, inaccurate because of the aggregation of Asians and Pacific Islanders. An analysis of 2005 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System data was performed to examine health status of Asians compared to Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders. Findings show a significant difference between Asians and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders, with a greater likelihood for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders to rate their health as poor. Conclusion: Asians and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders do not have the same health status. By aggregating these two distinctly different populations, Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders are silenced. The aggregate disease reporting, which is limited and inaccurate, precludes advocacy efforts and the political power to intervene, and stifles the ability to create change and improvement for these populations.
BMC health services research, 2018
Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) are one of the fasting growing racial groups in the United States (US). NHPIs have a significantly higher disease burden than the US population as a whole, yet they remain underrepresented in research. The purpose of this study is to examine factors associated with health care utilization among NHPIs. Drawing from the 2014 NHPI-National Health Interview Survey, we used stereotype logistic regressions to examine utilization of emergency department (ED) and outpatient services among 2172 individuals aged 18 and older. NHPIs with chronic diseases were twice as likely to be multiple ED users and nearly four times as likely to be frequent-users of outpatient services. Social support played a protective role in preventing multiple use of ED. Having a usual source of care made it more than eight times as likely to be a frequent-user of outpatient services. Use of eHealth information increased the odds of using ED and outpatient services. Abili...
Selected Health Conditions Among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Adults: United States, 2014
NCHS data brief, 2017
Although the Asian or Pacific Islander federal race category was split into two in 1997 (1), few reliable health statistics are available for the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) population. In 2014, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) fielded a first-of-its-kind federal survey focused exclusively on NHPI population health. This report uses data from that survey, in combination with 2014 data from the annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), to highlight differences in the prevalence of selected health conditions between the NHPI population and the Asian population with whom they have historically been combined.
Health Behaviors of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Adults in California
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2012
Smoking, diet and physical activity are associated with chronic diseases, but representative prevalence data on these behaviors for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) adults are scarce. Data from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey were analyzed for self-identified NHPI and non-Hispanic white (NHW) adults. Ethnic and NHPI gender differences were examined for socio-demographic variables, obesity and health behaviors. Compared to NHW, NHPI displayed higher prevalence of obesity (p<0.001), smoking (p<0.05) and consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages (p<0.05). NHPI males were more likely than females to smoke (p<0.001). NHPI adults appear to be at higher risk for chronic disease than NHW due to obesity, smoking and intake of unhealthy foods and beverages. Culturally-specific health promotion interventions are needed to reduce risks among the underrepresented NHPI population.
Ethnicity & disease, 2010
Large-scale comparison and comprehensive estimate on the access to health care and preventive services between Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) has not been available. This study examines the racial disparities in access to health care and preventive services between AAPIs and NHWs in the USA. Cross-sectional study of access to health care and preventive services among AAPIs compared to NHWs, using data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2005 to 2007 among 908,154 respondents aged > or = 18 years. The percentages of AAPIs (aged > or = 18 years) who reported having a personal healthcare provider, a Pap test (women aged > or =18), a fecal occult blood test (aged > or = 50) a sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (aged > or = 50), a PSA test (men aged > or = 40), blood cholesterol checked (aged > or =18 yrs), and pneumococcal vaccination (aged > or = 65 yrs) were 76.7%, 83.1%, 27.5%, 47.5%, 35.5%, 74.2%, and 51.2%, respec...
Special issue introduction: Advancing Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander health
Asian American Journal of Psychology, 2019
'i at Ma noa This is an introductory article for the special issue on "Advancing Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Health" of the Asian American Journal of Psychology. It provides a demographic and historical overview of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in the United States as well as the most pressing physical and mental health issues faced by these communities. In so doing, this article provides the larger cultural and social context for the studies that comprise this special issue. The eight articles in this special issue reflect the current "state of the science" in Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander health-related research across two broad domains-behavioral health and chronic medical disease disparities. Each article in this special issue is summarized with a focus on its unique contribution to advancing Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander health. In addition, the current challenges and opportunities for advancing Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander health are explored, which include a call for data disaggregation from Asian populations, moving the science from characterizing health disparities to real-world solutions, conducting culturally responsive research, and diversifying the health science workforce to include Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. What is the public significance of this article? To improve the health disparities of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, the aggregation of their health-related data with Asian Americans needs to stop because this practice masks these disparities. We also call for more community engaged, culturally responsive research and dedicated federal funding to increase their representation in the health science workforce.
Obesity and Self-reported General Health, Hawaii BRFSS: Are Polynesians at Higher Risk?
Obesity, 2008
Objective: This study compared the relationship between fair/poor general health status among overweight and obese Polynesians with that among other overweight and obese persons in Hawaii. Methods and Procedures: Data were pooled from the 1998-2003 Hawaii Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and logistic regression used to examine the predictors of fair/poor health status. Results: Polynesians were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Polynesians; overweight Polynesians were more likely than other overweight individuals to report fair/poor health status. After adjusting for confounders, among Polynesians, being obese was no longer associated with fair/poor health. Non-Polynesians who were obese (odds ratio 1.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.4-2.6), older, less educated, smokers, diabetic, hypertensive, and physically inactive were more likely to report fair/poor health. Discussion: Although Polynesians were significantly more obese than the rest of the Hawaii population, their weight was not independently associated with their odds for fair/poor health as it was with non-Polynesians. The difference may be that, for Polynesians, hypertension and diabetes overrode the effect of obesity on general health status or this group maintains different cultural perceptions of body size. Regardless, these findings show a major health risk among Polynesians and suggest the need for culturally specific health interventions.
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2019
Healthy life expectancy (HALE) varies substantially among countries, regions, and race/ethnicities. Utilizing the Sullivan method, this article examines HALE for Native Hawaiian, White, Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese Americans living in Hawai’i, the United States. HALE varies by sex and race/ethnicity. The HALE at birth in 2010 for females was 78.3, 77.8, 74.2, 73.7, and 62.6 years in contrast to life expectancy of 90, 88, 88.1, 83.4, and 79.4 for Chinese, Japanese, Filipino Americans, White, and Native Hawaiians, respectively. In the same order, HALE at birth for males was 73.0, 71.6, 72.3 70.7, and 60.7 years, compared with life expectancy of 85.3, 81.2, 80.8, 78.3, and 73.9. The gaps in HALE between Native Hawaiians and the longest living Chinese Americans were 15.7 years for females and 12.3 years for males. Our results highlight sex and racial/ethnic disparities in HALE, which can inform program and policy development.
Since the 2000 Census, Asians and Pacific Islanders have been categorized as separate races. Government initiatives have called for greater study of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) health outcomes. NHPI often have worse health outcomes than Asians and Whites. Despite this, the lack of operationalization of racial definitions may affect the magnitude of health disparities. This analysis examined how utilizing different sociological race definitions could influence NHPI health outcomes when compared to Asians and Whites. Utilizing data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, NHPI had significantly higher age adjusted obesity prevalence than Whites under the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) (OR = 1.72, P = .03) and Self-Report (OR = 1.57, P = .01) definitions, but not the Census definition (OR = 1.42, P = .11). NHPI had significantly higher age adjusted obesity prevalence than Asians under all definitions (Census OR = 4.05, P < .01; CHPR OR = 4.81, P < .01; Self-Report OR = 4.46, P < .01). NHPI had significantly higher age adjusted diabetes/pre-diabetes prevalence than Whites across all definitions (Census OR = 3.27, P < .01, CHPR OR = 3.03, P < .01, Self-Report OR = 1.99, P = .01) but only the Census (OR = 2.12, P = .01) and CHPR (OR = 1.86, P = .04) when NHPI were compared to Asians. Overall, race definition changed the identification of health disparities. Future studies should operationalize racial definitions, as health disparities are masked post-hoc when utilizing different race definitions.