Risk for Disability and Poverty Among Central Asians in the United States.

Carlos Siordia,Athena K Ramos

doi:10.5195/cajgh.2015.220

Abstract

Understanding the disability-poverty relationship among minority groups within the United States (US) populations may help inform interventions aimed at reducing health disparities. Limited information exists on risk factors for disability and poverty among “Central Asians” (immigrants born in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian regions of the former Soviet Union) in the US. The current cross-sectional analysis used information on 6,820 Central Asians to identify risk factors for disability and poverty. Data from the 2009–2013 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) file from the American Community Survey (ACS) indicate that being married, non-Latino-white, and having higher levels of educational attainment are protective against disability and poverty. In contrast, older age, residing in the Middle Atlantic geographic division, and having limited English language ability are risk factors for both disability and poverty. Research should continue to develop risk profiles for understudied immigrant populations. Expanding knowledge on the well-being of Central Asians in the US may help impact public health interventions and inform health policies.

Highlights

Understanding the disability-poverty relationship among minority groups within the United States (US) populations may help inform interventions aimed at reducing health disparities
Our sample was 54% female, 59% married, 83% non-Latino-white, 60% US citizens (95.6% by naturalization, 4.4% by being born to parents with US citizenship), 18% lacked health insurance coverage, and 24% were unable to speak English ‘well’ or ‘at all’ (Table 1). Participants in this sample were aged 40.6±19.9, 36% reported high school education or below, and the majority (36%) of participants resided in the Middle Atlantic geographic division of the US
The low level of disability in the sample may be partially explained by the plausibility that the selection process influences who emigrates from Central Asia

Summary

Introduction

Understanding the disability-poverty relationship among minority groups within the United States (US) populations may help inform interventions aimed at reducing health disparities. Limited information exists on risk factors for disability and poverty among “Central Asians” (immigrants born in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian regions of the former Soviet Union) in the US. In the United States (US) and across the world, having the ability to overcome psycho-social and physical barriers for independent living can influence quality of life.[1] The differently abled (i.e., disabled) and economically deprived (i.e., poor) are at greater risk for adverse health.[2] low-income minorities should not be defined as being “trapped in an inescapable cycle of poverty,”[3] it should be noted that both the physically and economically disadvantaged individuals do face unique challenges for resisting exposures that may lead to disability.[4] the relationship between disability and poverty (i.e., the disability-poverty nexus) remains under-researched among smaller immigrant groups.[5,6,7] This investigation fills a gap in the disabilitypoverty nexus literature by focusing on the Central Asian population of the US.

Methods

Results

Conclusion