A Comparison of Common Health Indicators From Two Surveys of Latinos in the Bronx, New York.

INTRODUCTION

Population health surveys inform and demonstrate the impact of public health policies. However, the performance of such surveys in specific groups of interest (e.g., Hispanics/Latinos in a neighborhood of New York City) is rarely studied.

METHOD

We compared measures for obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and current smoking based on the New York City Community Health Survey (CHS, a telephone survey of New York City adults) with the Hispanic Community Health Survey/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), an in-person survey of Hispanic/Latino adults in four communities in the United States (2008-2011), including the Bronx. CHS data were limited to Hispanic/Latinos living in the HCHS/SOL Bronx catchment area.

RESULTS

Compared with CHS, HCHS/SOL estimated higher prevalence of obesity (in HCHS/SOL, P = 45.0% vs. in CHS, P = 30.6%, < .01) and current smoking (P = 21.2% vs. P = 16.2%, < .01) but similar for hypertension (P = 33.1% vs. P = 33.8%, > .05) and diabetes (P = 15.2% vs. P = 15.7%, > .05). Stratified estimates (by age, sex, education, and Hispanic/Latino heritage) followed similar trends.

CONCLUSION

Our study emphasizes the importance of assessing potential bias in population-based surveys of Hispanics/Latinos and other populations of interest and highlights the complex nature of measuring health outcomes via population-based surveys.