Social Disparities in Health Among Latinos

描述(申请人提供)：美国和其他地方的研究普遍表明，较高的社会地位与较低的死亡风险和更好的健康密切相关，在社会经济阶梯的各个层面。然而，拉美裔人口的情况则更为复杂。尽管拉美裔的社会经济地位较差，但他们的婴儿和成人死亡率通常与白人相同或更低，这种模式通常被称为“拉美裔悖论”。第二个谜题与文献中的发现有关，尽管有这种死亡率优势，但拉美裔调查受访者比其他族裔的受访者更有可能将自己的整体健康状况评为中等或较差。我们基于三个数据集的初步研究揭示了另一个悖论：对于广泛的与健康相关的行为和健康结果，拉美裔青年和成年人的健康社会梯度很弱，甚至几乎不存在，而白人的社会梯度一般很强。在拟议的项目中，我们将系统地调查美国拉美裔美国人的社会经济地位、移民地位、健康行为和健康结果之间的关系。虽然我们的主要关注点将是拉美裔人口，但我们也将研究其他种族群体的这些关系。此外，我们还将调查墨西哥的社会经济状况和健康状况之间的关系。墨西哥是美国最大的拉美裔移民输出国。分析数据将来自洛杉矶家庭和邻里调查的第一波和第二波、全国健康访谈调查和墨西哥国家健康调查。我们的总体目标是更全面地了解拉丁裔的健康状况。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Studies in the U.S. and elsewhere have generally shown that higher social position is strongly associated with lower mortality risks and better health at all levels of the socioeconomic ladder. However, the situation for the Latino population is more complex. Despite the poorer socioeconomic status of Latinos, their infant and adult mortality rates are generally the same as or lower than those for whites, a pattern often referred to as the "Hispanic Paradox." A second puzzle pertains to findings in the literature that, despite this mortality advantage, Latino survey respondents are more likely than those in other ethnic groups to rate their overall health as fair or poor. Our preliminary research based on three data sets reveals yet another paradox: for a broad range of health-related behaviors and health outcomes, the social gradients in health for Latino youth and adults are weak or virtually non-existent in contrast to the generally strong gradients for whites. In the proposed project, we will systematically investigate the relationships between socioeconomic status, immigrant status, health behavior, and health outcomes for Latinos in the United States. Although our principal focus will be the Latino population, we will also examine these relationships for other ethnic groups. In addition, we will investigate associations between socioeconomic status and health outcomes in Mexico, which is the largest sending country for Latino immigrants in the U.S. Data for the analysis will come from waves 1 and 2 of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, from the National Health Interview Survey, and from the Mexican Encuesta Nacional de Salud. Our overall goal is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of Latino health.