Minority health status in adulthood: The middle years of life

The objective of this article is to describe the racial and ethnic differen ces in health status during the "middle years" of life. We use data from Na tional Vital Statistics Reports (Hoyert, Kochanek, and Murphy, 1999) to est imate excess mortality among racial and ethnic minority groups for the lead ing causes of death among adults. Also discussed are the current state of s cholarship in minority health and suggestions for future directions for res earch on racial and ethnic differences in health status.