ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER MORTALITY DIFFERENCES IN HAWAII

In the United States, national health status data pertaining to Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Americans are rarely disaggregated. By aggr egating API data, however, the poor health status of some API groups i s often masked by the favorable health status of others. The purpose o f this paper is two-fold: (1) to compare mortality rates of the five m ajor ethnic groups in Hawaii (Caucasians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese , and Hawaiians) and (2) to explore methodological issues related to c omparative studies of API health indicators. Standardized and age-spec ific mortality rates and 95 per cent confidence intervals for major ca uses of death were estimated for 1990 based on Hawaii vital records an d population data. In general, death rates were highest for Hawaiians and lowest for Japanese and Chinese, illustrating the importance of AP I data disaggregation and suggesting that special attention be paid to improving the health of Hawaiians. Methodologically, the study demons trated that, while some compromises in analysis are required, legitima te comparisons across API groups can be made if data sets are availabl e.