BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY AMONG IMMIGRANTSIN AUSTRALIA AND CANADA

Previous studies have suggested that the risk of benign prostatic hype rplasia (BPH) varies among racial and ethnic groups. However, these st udies have tended to be anecdotal or based on crude proportions or rat es. This study describes the age-standardized BPH hospitalization (198 5-1987) and mortality (1984-1988) rates (SMRs) for numerous immigrant groups in Australia and Canada. The SMRs for some of the immigrants we re compared with those in the origin countries. Both the BPH hospitali zation and mortality rates varied markedly among immigrant groups. The most consistent findings were the low rates of Italians and Asians. R elative to the origin country SMRs, the SMRs for the majority of immig rant groups shifted towards the destination native-born rate. This con vergence probably resulted from more standard procedures of BPH ascert ainment and cause of death recording within a country than between cou ntries, and possibly, from convergence in risk factor levels. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.