Health indicators for Hispanic, black, and white Americans.

Abstract

Available estimates of the health status and health care utilization of the US population often fail to distinguish the population by national origin thus overlooking important geographical socioeconomic and cultural differences that exist among these groups. According to the 1980 Census there were 14.6 million Hispanics in the US of whom 59.8% were of Mexican origin 13.8% were of Puerto Rican origin 5.5% were of Cuban origin and 20.9% were of origins. This report is the 1st national one to provide estimates on a variety of health indicators for the and non-Hispanic populations using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Estimates are presented in this report for the US civilian noninstitutionalized population and for the total nonHispanic the white nonHispanic and the black nonHispanic segments of the population. Estimates are also presented forthe total population and the Mexican American the mainland Puerto Rican the Cuban American and other Hispanic populations thus allowing for cross-cultural comparisons. The primary focus of the report is however the data for the 4 groups. Data on the population are combined estimates for all people regardless of race. Mexican Americans had the lowest physician visit rate of any group studied 3.7 visits per person/year. In contrast Puerto Ricans along with Cuban Americans saw a physician the most frequently about 6 times a year on the average. Only 1 in 5 Puerto Ricans did not consult with a physician in the course of a year. About 1/3 of Mexican Americans 4 years of age and older visited a dentist within the year compared with almost 1/2 of all Hispanics Almost 1/2 of Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans aged 4 and over saw a dentist at least once a year. Mexican Americans were among the least likely to be hospitalized (8.5%) whereas Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans were the most likely to be hospitalized. Puerto Ricans had by far the highest incidence of acute vs. chronic conditions. As a group Mexican Americans had less restricted activity than did any group (measured by days lost from or confined to bed). Puerto Ricans had the greatest amount of restricted activity about 20% higher than for blacks the group with the next highest level of activity. Cuban Americans along with blacks had the greatest proportion of persons limited in their major activity and activities. For Cuban Americans this is mainly due to the large proportion of older people. Family income age and educational status are also correlated to health status and service utilization.