The Office of Research, Health Assessment, and Data Systems (ORHADS), Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), routinely collects, analyzes, and reports the health status of Boston residents. This information can be used to identify and monitor health disparities within a specific population, such as the health status of Boston's Asian/Pacific Islander population.
Asian/Pacific Islanders (API) are often viewed among public health professionals as the "model health minority," with morbidity or mortality rates that are usually below those of other racial and ethnic groups, lower incidence rates of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, lower infant mortality rates, and lower mortality rates for heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and homicide. As a result, disparity in health among Asian/Pacific Islanders may not be identified as an issue. However, closer examination of the data should be cause for concern. For example, mortality rates for certain site-specific cancers, though lower than that of other of racial and ethnic groups, have increased among Asian/Pacific Islanders. In addition, mortality rates for some health indicators in the Asian/Pacific Islander population are approaching rates similar to other racial and ethnic groups.
Data analysis on Asian/Pacific Islanders, for most health indicators, often presents some limitations, such as the lack of data altogether at the subpopulation level or too little data for the calculation of reliable rates. Despite these data limitations, the morbidity and mortality data the Office of Research, Health Assessment, and Data Systems provides give an invaluable indication of the health status of the Asian/Pacific Islander population in Boston.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, all participants should be able to do the following: 1. Identify potential data limitations when using health status indicator data by race/ethnicity at the local level 2. Understand the effect of these data limitations have on monitoring health disparities. 3. Gain an understanding of the health status of the Asian/Pacific Islander population in Boston
Keywords: Asian and Pacific Islander, Minority Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.