Trends in prevalence of selected chronic diseases by demographic variables in Hawaii's older population

Trends in the prevalence of chronic health conditions among the older population of Hawai‘i from 1998-2006 are now available from the Hawai‘i Health Survey (HHS). In addition, Hawai`i with a multi-cultural society provides an opportunity for examining the disparities in health conditions by race/ethnicity within the aging population. Prevalence of chronic health conditions have been shown to differ widely among ethnic/race groups by age. Profiles of self-perceived mental and physical health, socioeconomic, and demographic data for those with chronic conditions will also be presented.

The Hawai`i Department of Health, Office of Health Status Monitoring, implements the HHS an annual survey initiated in 1968 (originally modeled after the National Health Interview Survey) and a telephone survey since 1996 that gathers health, demographic, and socio-economic information on people living in households with telephones in Hawai`i. The survey collects detailed information on race/ethnicity, other demographic and socio-economic variables, and health conditions (chronic conditions estimated include arthritis, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and fair/poor general health with a calculated summary score of chronic disease). Also available for the adult population by respondent are obesity and SF-12® summary mental and physical health scores.

The HHS when compared to many national surveys has a much larger sample size for many Asian and Pacific Islander populations enabling statistically reliable estimates for health conditions. The association and level of significance between ethnicity, chronic disease, and age were examined statistically with SAS and SUDAAN programs. Implications and limitations will be discussed.