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Hispanics in the United States, numbering 22.4 million at the 1990 census, are the nation's second largest and fastest growing minority population. Although recent studies have increased our knowledge of the demographic characteristics and culture of this multiethnic population, until now there has been no comprehensive discussion of the Hispanic mortality experience, a potential key to assessing the relative health status of Spanish-origin subgroups in American society. Addressing the pressing need for more accurate, current, and comprehensive data for specific ethnic groups, this volume presents coherent research on the mortality patterns of the three largest Hispanic subgroups and, in the process, helps dispel many anecdotal or romanticized notions about Hispanic health and illness.
The experts represented in this book present mortality data in five basic categories: mortality in the countries of origin; comparative mortality among Spanish-origin groups in the United States; specific causes of mortality among Spanish-origin populations; analysis of mortality data based on surname statistics; and an overview of mortality among migrants to this country as compared to patterns of death in the countries of origin. They suggest an Hispanic pattern of mortality, characterized by relatively low rates for the three leading causes of death and relatively high rates for selected causes, such as cirrhosis of the liver and homicide. The contributors also examine cultural and demographic intragroup differences. Their findings indicate that lifestyle, environmental and social factors, and genetic influences, must all be considered in accounting for mortality differences between the Mexican-born, Puerto Rican-born, Cuban-born, and non-Hispanics. Of the more than 80 tables in this book, many are based on unpublished vital statistics tabulations and are presented for the first time. The quantity and quality of data, the range of comparisons and analyses, together with the demographic overview, offer researchers an important resource for further studies on the interrelationship of migration, acculturation, minority status, and mortality. At the same time, the findings indicate trends and patterns in mortality among Hispanic subgroups in the United States that have important implications for public health and policy planners.
List of contents
IntroductionMortality Experience of Hispanic Populations
Countries of OriginMortality in Mexico
Mortality in Puerto Rico
Mortality in Cuba
Immigrant Groups in the United StatesMortality of Mexican-Origin Persons in the Southwestern United States
Mortality Among Three Puerto Rican Populations
Mortality Patterns of Cubans in the United States
Determinants of Mortality: Socioeconomic Status, Health, and Risk FactorsSocioeconomic Differences in Mortality: Puerto Rico, 1979-1981
Health-related Lifestyles Among Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans in the United States
Mortality by Violence Among Mexican Immigrants and Mexican-Americans in California and Texas
Mortality Among Puerto Ricans by Nativity in New York State and New Jersey, 1979-1981
Surname MethodologyThe Use of Surname Data in the Analysis of Mortality Rates of U.S. Mainland-born Puerto Ricans
OverviewAn Overview of Age-adjusted Death Rates Among Three Hispanic Populations in Their Home Countries and in the United States
References
Index
About the author
Ira Rosenwaike
