A comparison of the health status and behavioral risk factors among English-speaking Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites in Missouri.

OBJECTIVES The study objectives were to estimate the prevalence of chronic diseases and other health indicators for Hispanics in Missouri, and to compare their prevalence estimates with other racial/ethnic groups. DESIGN / SETTING / PARTICIPANTS: This study, conducted in public health and academic settings, used combined data from the 2002 and 2003 Missouri Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the 2003 Missouri County-Level Study. Data were post-stratified with Hispanic ethnicity as a separate group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Twenty health indicators were compared. Logistic regression was used to control for sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS Overall, 21.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 13.4-30.0) of Hispanics, 19.8% (95% CI 14.4-25.2%) of non-Hispanic Blacks, and 12.2% (95% CI 11.2-13.1%) of non-Hispanic Whites had no insurance coverage. Hispanics were significantly less likely to report poor or fair health (12.1%, 95% CI 7.5-16.7%) than non-Hispanic Blacks (21.6%, 95% CI 17.2-26.0%), and less likely to report activity limitation (12.9%, 95% CI 8.0-17.9%) than non-Hispanic Whites (20.2%, 95% CI 19.1-21.2%). Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, Hispanics had greater physician-diagnosed diabetes (OR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-3.3%) and Hispanics aged > or = 50 were less likely to have no sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy in the past five years (OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.2-1.0%) compared to non-Hispanic Whites. CONCLUSIONS Other than lower healthcare coverage and diabetes status, the health indicators for English-speaking Hispanics were similar to, or better than, non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites. However, these data may not represent all Hispanics in Missouri since health status between English-speaking and non-English speaking Hispanics may differ significantly.