ABSTRACT
Introduction: National data on the epidemiology of cancer are commonly reported by broad racial/ethnic categories, such as "Hispanic." However, few studies have disaggregated Hispanic groups and explored mortality differentials in this heterogeneous population. This paper aims to further examine cancer mortality differentials among Hispanic subgroups in the U.S. Materials and Methods: The study examined cancer deaths in the United States from 2004 to 2014 among decedents classified as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central/South American and non-Hispanic white on the death certificate among those who were 20 years or older at the time of death. Data were obtained from the National Vital Statistics System. Sex-specific age-adjusted mortality rates were computed for a 10-year period and each individual year, for all cancers combined. Differences by age group, cancer sites, and age distribution were also assessed. Results: A total of 296,486 Hispanic cancer deaths were identified. Mortality rates of the Hispanic subgroups compare favorably with those of non-Hispanic whites. The mortality rates for Mexicans are very similar to those of all Hispanics combined, whereas the rates for Cuban and Puerto Ricans are higher. Dominicans and Central/South Americans had the overall lowest mortality rates. Statistically significant decreases in cancer mortality rates were noted in some sub-groups, but rates increased among Dominican women. Age-adjusted mortality rates by cancer site varied among Hispanics subgroups and gender. Among Cubans, only 5% of cancer deaths occurred before the age of 50 compared to 16% of cancer deaths among Central/South American. Conclusion: While it is common to present data on the burden of cancer among Hispanics as an aggregate group, this study illustrates that the burden of cancer varies by Hispanic subgroups. The disaggregation of Hispanics by ancestry/country of origin allows for a clearer understanding of the health status of this growing population and is needed if health disparities are to be adequately identified, understood and addressed.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To examine racial/ethnic disparity in and predictors of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among men. METHODS: We used the National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) 1999-2000 data, a multistage probability sampling design producing a U.S. representative sample of 23,459 adult males. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: The likelihood of engaging in irregular or regular LTPA was associated with younger age, being unmarried, lower household sizes, higher levels of education and income, home ownership, U.S. citizenship, perceived better health status, contact with a health professional within a year, being a non-smoker, living in the West, and residing in a midsize metropolitan statistical area. Hispanics were significantly less likely to engage in regular LTPA than Whites and higher percentages of Hispanics were physically inactive in almost all age and education groups when compared to other races. Disparity between Whites and Blacks was less pronounced. Non-citizen Hispanics were twice as likely to be inactive than citizens and White non-citizens were 40% more likely to be inactive than citizens. Conversely, Black citizens were 20% more likely to be inactive than non-citizens. CONCLUSIONS: Racial/ethnic disparities exist after accounting for socio-demographic characteristics. Not being a citizen exacerbates the disparity between Hispanic and White men. While disparity did exist between Black and White men, this gap was not as large as between Hispanic and White men. Health-seeking behaviors, such as contact with a health professional and non-smoking status are modifiable and influence men of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to engage in LTPA.
