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Arnab Mukherjea, MPH, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, P.O. Box 5823, Berkeley, CA 94705, 510-647-3455, amukherjea@cal.berkeley.edu and Latha Palaniappan, MD, MS, Internal Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Prevention Research Center, 211 Quarry Drive; Hoover Pavilion, Room N229, Stanford, CA 94305-5705.
Objective: To report the leading causes of mortality of Asian Indians in California and examine differences across age and sex. Setting: Little health data is available about Asian Indians in the United States, including causes of mortality. There are over 1.6 million Asian Indians living in the U.S., 360,000 of which reside in California (1% of state population). Asian Indians had one of the highest growth rates of any ethnic group in California, increasing by 125% from 1990-2000. Methods: U.S. Census data was used to collect ethnicity data and calculate population sizes. Primary causes of death were identified using International Classification of Diseases codes (ICD-9&10) from California mortality data. Rates were calculated per 100,000 person-years at risk. Results: The major causes of death for Asian Indians aged 25-84 from 1990-2000 were cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and infections. Asian Indian males and females aged 65-84 had the highest mortality rate, with the leading cause being cardiovascular disease (1347.4 and 992.8, respectively). For males aged 45-64, the top cause was cardiovascular disease (221.2); cardiovascular disease (95.1) and cancer (78.8) rates were roughly equivalent for their female counterparts. The leading cause for males and females aged 25-44 were traumas, accidents, and suicides (114.0 and 55.7, respectively). Conclusion: Understanding the leading causes of mortality in this rapidly growing ethnic group, including disaggregation by sex and age, will allow further research in the environmental, etiological, and behavioral determinants of health disparities. Ultimately, this information will enable the implementation of targeted public health intervention strategies.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the session, the audience will be able to
Keywords: Asian Americans, Health Disparities
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.