MIGRATION STATUS, SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS, AND MORTALITY-RATES IN MEXICAN-AMERICANS AND NON-HISPANIC WHITES - THE SAN-ANTONIO HEART-STUDY

It has been claimed that Mexican Americans have a favorable mortality experience despite their low socioeconomic status (SES). The present s tudy compared all-cause mortality of non-Hispanic whites with that of United States-born and foreign-born (i.e., born in Mexico) Mexican Ame ricans. Subjects were 3735 residents of San Antonio, TX, who were foll owed-up for 7-8 years. The sex-age adjusted death rates per 1000 perso n-years were higher for United States-born Mexican Americans (5.7) tha n for non-Hispanic whites (3.8) or for foreign-born Mexican Americans (3.6). Foreign-born Mexican Americans had the lowest socioeconomic sta tus (SES), and non-Hispanic whites had the highest SES. After adjustme nt for SES, the mortality ratio for United States-born Mexican America ns compared with foreign-born Mexican Americans was 1.9 (95% confidenc e interval, 1.0-3.5), while the ratio for United States-born Mexican A mericans compared with non-Hispanic whites was 1.0 (95% confidence int erval, 0.7-1.6). Stratified analysis revealed that those in the lowest SES tertiles had threefold greater risk of death than those in the hi ghest tertiles among both United States-born Mexican Americans and non -Hispanic whites (test for trend, P < 0.001). These data suggest that lower SES is strongly associated with increased mortality. After adjus tment for SES, mortality rates were similar for United States-born Mex ican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Foreign-born Mexican Americans had the lowest mortality rates of the three groups. Ann Epidemiol 199 6; 6:307-313.