Thiel de Bocanegra H, Gany F, Fruchter R
New York Task Force on Immigrant Health, New York University, School of Medicine, NY 10016.
Ethn Dis. 1993 Fall;3(4):413-26.
The increasing diversity of New York's Latino population creates complex challenges for the health care provider and planner, such as how to plan for divergent health risks, disease patterns, and health behaviors. However, most research on Latinos has been done in the southwestern United States. This paper reviews the epidemiologic data published since 1980 on Latino groups in New York State. The review covers the following areas: maternal and child health, infectious diseases, depression, tobacco and substance use, chronic diseases, neoplasms, and mortality statistics. We compare New York data with studies done in other areas of the United States. We identify serious methodological shortcomings in the epidemiological assessment of New York's Latino population, including (1) imprecise definition of "Latino," (2) misclassification, (3) census undercount of minority groups, and (4) lack of data on socioeconomic status. We argue that the epidemiological and cultural diversity of Latino groups demands the inclusion of such variables as place of birth, length of stay, and language preference in research and service statistics. This would facilitate targeted program planning and help to determine environmental, sociopolitical, behavioral, and genetic influences on diseases.
纽约拉丁裔人口日益增长的多样性给医疗服务提供者和规划者带来了复杂的挑战，比如如何针对不同的健康风险、疾病模式和健康行为进行规划。然而，大多数关于拉丁裔的研究是在美国西南部开展的。本文回顾了自1980年以来发表的关于纽约州拉丁裔群体的流行病学数据。该回顾涵盖以下领域：母婴健康、传染病、抑郁症、烟草和物质使用、慢性病、肿瘤以及死亡率统计。我们将纽约的数据与美国其他地区开展的研究进行比较。我们指出在对纽约拉丁裔人口进行流行病学评估时存在严重的方法学缺陷，包括：（1）“拉丁裔”定义不精确；（2）错误分类；（3）少数群体在人口普查中的漏计；（4）缺乏社会经济地位数据。我们认为拉丁裔群体的流行病学和文化多样性要求在研究和服务统计中纳入诸如出生地、停留时长和语言偏好等变量。这将有助于进行有针对性的项目规划，并有助于确定环境、社会政治、行为和基因对疾病的影响。
