Latino health in Southeastern Pennsylvania: Variations based on birthplace and socioeconomic status

This presentation addresses the health needs of the growing Latino population in Southeastern Pennsylvania, which vary by socioeconomic status and birthplace. Data derive from PHMC's 2006 Household Health Survey, a biannual survey of over 10,000 households in Southeastern Pennsylvania, which intentionally over-sampled Latino adults. The three largest Latino subgroups based on birthplace are: U.S. (n=418), Puerto Rico (n=312) and Mexico (n=103). Anticipated health differences between U.S. and not U.S. born were found, but less anticipated were large and statistically significant differences in self-reported health status, asthma, diabetes and feelings of stress between Latinos born in Mexico versus Puerto Rico, with the latter displaying poorer health levels. For example, when looking at the poor under age 45, 46.4% of Puerto Rico-born adults reported their health as fair or poor compared to 28.9% of Mexico-born adults. Using logistic regression to control for socioeconomic status and age, Puerto Rico-born adults remain significantly more likely than U.S. or Mexico-born adults to have poorer health levels. The adjusted odds ratio for Puerto Rico-born to report fair or poor health is 3.18 compared to Mexico-born and 3.16 compared to U.S.-born, both of which are greater than the adjusted odds ratio of 2.96 for poverty. In conclusion, the particularly poor health levels of the Puerto Rico-born demand attention and suggest further examination of their different circumstances in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Challenges and limitations of studying this population will also be addressed.