Leading Health Risks, Diseases And Causes Of Mortality Among Hispanics In United States Of America (USA) (original) (raw)
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The Health Status and Health Behaviors of Hispanics
The rapid growth in the Hispanic population, and especially in the number of Hispanic youth, represents one of the most dramatic and important demographic trends affecting the U.S. Contemporary working-age Hispanic adults will age to become the first sizable wave of Hispanic seniors. More consequential, the large number of contemporary Hispanic children and adolescents will age to swell the ranks of Hispanic young and middle-aged adults within a decade or two. The health status and health behaviors of today’s Hispanic youth will play a central role in shaping the long-term health and health care needs not only of Hispanics in the U.S. but of all Americans. Yet efforts to provide a detailed and comprehensive description of the health and health behaviors of Hispanics are complicated by a variety of factors. Hispanics living in the U.S. represent an increasing diversity of national origin groups, and health status differs across national origin groups. Relatively new groups, such as Dominicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Colombians, have grown rapidly, adding their numbers to well-established populations of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban origin. Additionally, the health of U.S. Hispanics differs by generational status. On numerous dimensions, foreign-born Hispanics – i.e., immigrants to the U.S. – have better health indicators than their U.S.-born counterparts. Among the foreign-born, moreover, health status and health behaviors may differ by degree of acculturation to U.S. culture. In this context, the gaps in the available data on the health and health behavior of Hispanics impose serious limitations. One frequent and noteworthy problem is the lack of detailed data for subgroups of Hispanics defined by national origin and generation in the U.S. Most studies group Hispanics into a single category or focus on Hispanics of Mexican origin, who are by far the most numerous. Another problem is the relative lack of detailed epidemiologic data on the incidence and prevalence of common and important diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. Moreover, for many conditions data are unavailable to assess incidence or prevalence according to immigrant status or, among the foreign-born, by length of residence in the U.S. and degree of acculturation. Despite these limitations, researchers have learned a great deal about the health status and health behaviors of Hispanics over the last 25 years. The story that has emerged is a complex one, with some findings that warrant optimism and others that merit serious concern. The picture of both advantage and disadvantage that has surfaced must be appreciated and understood in order to develop interventions and design policies to improve Hispanic health. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the health status and health behaviors of Hispanics in the U.S. The chapter is divided into several sections: First we discuss mortality rates among Hispanics, compare them with rates for non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks, and illustrate the variation in mortality across Hispanic national origin groups. The next three sections cover the health status and health behaviors of Hispanic adults, the health status and health behaviors of Hispanic children and adolescents, and birth outcomes. The fifth section discusses the so-called “epidemiological paradox,” one of the most fascinating findings regarding the health of Hispanics and a source of controversy since it was first described. Finally, we conclude with a summary of our findings and what they mean for the health and health care needs of future generations of Hispanics in the U.S.
Health risk behaviors of Hispanics in the United States: findings from HHANES, 1982-84
American Journal of Public Health, 1990
With data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES), we examined several health risk behaviors (cigarette smoking, alcohol use, dietary practices, and recency of health screening) of Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican adults (ages 20-74). For each sample, a greater percentage of men than women smoked cigarettes and used alcohol. Heavy smoking (20+ cigarettes per day) was most prevalent for Cuban American males, and heavy drinking (1.00+ oz ethanol per day) was most prevalent for Mexican American and Puerto Rican men. Acculturation correlated positively with alcohol use (particularly for females) and negatively with dietary balance (for Mexican
Health outcomes among Hispanic subgroups: data from the National Health Interview Survey, 1992-95
Advance data, 2000
Within the next 50 years, Hispanics will become the largest minority group in the United States. The largest Hispanic subgroups are those of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican descent. The Hispanic population is heterogeneous in terms of culture, history, socioeconomic status (SES) and health status. In this report, various health status measures are compared across Hispanic subgroups in the United States. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data aggregated from 1992 through 1995 were analyzed. NHIS is one of the few national surveys that has a sufficiently large sample size to adequately compare the different subgroups. Data are presented for four Hispanic origin subgroups--Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and "other Hispanic" persons--for the Hispanic population as a whole and for the non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black populations. These groups are compared with respect to several health status outcomes, providing both age-adjusted and unadjusted estimates. The hea...
Socioeconomic, Cultural, and Behavioral Factors Affecting Hispanic Health Outcomes
Journal of Health Care for The Poor and Underserved, 2002
Evidence suggests that social and economic factors are important determinants of health. Yet, despite higher poverty rates, less education, and worse access to health care, health outcomes of many Hispanics living in the United States today are equal to, or better than, those of non-Hispanic whites. This paradox is described in the literature as the epidemiological paradox or Hispanic health paradox. In this paper, the authors selectively review data and research supporting the existence of the epidemiological paradox. They find substantial support for the existence of the epidemiological paradox, particularly among Mexican Americans. Census undercounts of Hispanics, misclassification of Hispanic deaths, and emigration of Hispanics do not fully account for the epidemiological paradox. Identifying protective factors underlying the epidemiological paradox, while improving access to care and the economic conditions among Hispanics, are important research and policy implications of this review.
Ethnicity & disease, 2006
One of the goals of Healthy People 2010 is to eliminate health disparities among racial/ethnic groups. This study compared Hispanics with non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks on six leading health indicators (LHIs) by demographics characteristics, access to medical care, and general health status. Data were gathered from 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a state based random-digit-dialed telephone survey. Respondents were non-institutionalized adults age > or = 18 years. Respondents were compared by physical activity, smoking, binge drinking, obesity, health insurance coverage, specific source of ongoing care, influenza vaccination within last 12 months, and any pneumococcal vaccination. Logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate racial/ethnic differences in LHIs after adjusting for confounding variables. Responses from 235,784 participants were analyzed (Hispanic = 18,929, non-Hispanic White = 202,035, non-Hispanic Black = 14,820). Hisp...
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 2005
Hispanics are the most rapidly growing minority group in the United States, and Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans are the three largest Hispanic subgroups. Among Hispanics, type 2 diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death. This paper examines diabetes-related mortality in Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans over 35 years of age in the United States during 1996 and 1997. Methods. Using data from the National Vital Statistics System and the 1990 and 2000 censuses, we calculated age-adjusted and age-specific diabetes-related death rates for Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans over 35 years of age. Diabetes-related deaths were determined to be any death for which diabetes was coded as either the underlying or contributing cause of death. Results. The diabetes-related mortality rate for Mexican Americans (251 per 100 000) and Puerto Ricans (204 deaths per 100 000) was twice as high as the diabetes-related mortality rate for Cuban Americans (101 deaths per 100 000). Cuban American decedents had the highest proportion of deaths with diabetes coded as the underlying cause of death (44%). After diabetes, heart disease (31%) followed by cancer (8%) and stroke (6%) were the most frequent primary underlying causes of diabetes-related deaths in all three ethnic groups. Conclusion. Our analyses of these data demonstrate that diabetes-related mortality differed among Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans more than 35 years of age in the United States in 1996 and 1997. Socioeconomic factors such as low educational attainment and low income may be factors that contributed to the disparities in these mortality rates for different subgroups. Further research is needed to update these findings and to investigate explanatory risk factors. Diversity among Hispanic subgroups has persisted in recent years and should be considered when health policies and services targeted at these populations are developed.
Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 2014
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of mortality among Hispanics/ Latinos residing in the United States (US), yet despite the rapid growth of this diverse population, there has been a dearth of objective, comprehensive data on prevalence of risk factors for CVD and other chronic diseases. The Hispanic Community Health Study/SOL) is the largest and most comprehensive cohort study to date/SOL) was initiated to address this gap in knowledge. This article reviews existing research on CVD risk factors among Hispanic/Latino adults of diverse background residing in the US, compares findings from HCHS/SOL with other representative samples on prevalence of major CVD risk factors in this population, and discusses the lessons learned thus far from HCHS/SOL. Baseline findings from this study demonstrate that sizeable burdens in CVD risk exist among all major Hispanic/Latino background groups in the US. At the same time, there are marked variations in rates of individual risk factors by Hispanic/Latino background groups. Comprehensive public health policies to lower CVD risk among those who have adverse levels of one or more risk factors, and to prevent development of CVD risk factors in the small proportion free of CVD risk are urgently needed to lower the future burden of CVD among the US Hispanic/Latino population.