Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, with a population of over 14 million that is projected to reach nearly 34 million by 2050. However, our current understanding of Asian Americans is as an aggregated group, and very little is known about the six diverse Asian American racial/ethnic subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese), who have a wide range of disease risks, immigration histories, and socioeconomic status. There is currently a knowledge gap on the health of these expanding subpopulations, and there is no information to recommend research agendas, create public health policy, and offer clinical guidelines. Our current understanding of Asian American mortality patterns is distorted by the aggregation of distinct subgroups, the grouping of foreign-born and U.S.- born populations, and the unknown impact of sociodemographic factors. While the U.S. Census first started disaggregating Asian subgroups in 1980, disaggregation of Asian subgroups on U.S. death records occurred much later in 2003, and now over half of the 50 U.S. States disaggregate Asian subgroups. The goal of this study is to examine racial/ethnic, nativity, and geographic differences in Asian American subgroup mortality compared to other racial/ethnic groups (Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, Hispanics). Investigation of cause-specific mortality in distinct subgroups, by nativity, and considering sociodemographic factors will be fundamental in assessing and addressing health disparities in Asian American communities.

Public Health Relevance

The current lack of national mortality statistics for Asian American subgroups makes it difficult to recommend research agendas, create public health policy, and offer clinical guidelines for diverse Asian American subgroups. The goal of this study is to examine racial/ethnic, nativity, and geographic disparities in Asian American subgroup mortality compared to other racial/ethnic groups (Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, Hispanics).

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01MD007012-04
Application #
8804208
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMD1)
Program Officer
Dankwa-Mullan, Irene
Project Start
2012-04-01
Project End
2017-01-31
Budget Start
2015-02-01
Budget End
2016-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Stanford University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94304
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Kung, A; Hastings, K G; Kapphahn, K I et al. (2018) Cross-national comparisons of increasing suicidal mortality rates for Koreans in the Republic of Korea and Korean Americans in the USA, 2003-2012. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 27:62-73
Nguyen, Michelle-Linh T; Hu, Jiaqi; Hastings, Katherine G et al. (2017) Thyroid cancer mortality is higher in Filipinos in the United States: An analysis using national mortality records from 2003 through 2012. Cancer 123:4860-4867
Ancheta, Irma B; Battie, Cynthia A; Volgman, Annabelle S et al. (2017) Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score: Results from the Filipino-American Women Cardiovascular Study. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 4:25-34
Rodriguez, Fatima; Hastings, Katherine G; Boothroyd, Derek B et al. (2017) Disaggregation of Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Hispanic Subgroups. JAMA Cardiol 2:240-247
Pu, Jia; Hastings, Katherine G; Boothroyd, Derek et al. (2017) Geographic Variations in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Asian American Subgroups, 2003-2011. J Am Heart Assoc 6:
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Hastings, Katherine G; Jose, Powell O; Kapphahn, Kristopher I et al. (2015) Leading Causes of Death among Asian American Subgroups (2003-2011). PLoS One 10:e0124341
Jose, Powell O; Frank, Ariel T H; Kapphahn, Kristopher I et al. (2014) Cardiovascular disease mortality in Asian Americans. J Am Coll Cardiol 64:2486-94