This data brief from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health reports data from Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS). The Medicare HOS provides longitudinal self-assessed health status data on over 400,000 Medicare managed care baseline and follow up respondents annually. In April 2013, following standards established as a result of the Affordable Care Act section 4302, the HOS became the first large scale CMS survey to collect expanded measures of race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status. This data brief describes the health of Asian Americans (Asians) and of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) from the most recently fielded survey, the 2014 “Cohort 17 Baseline”. These data represent a new and unique source of information about the self-reported health of two populations. These data are compiled from more than 8,400 Asian and more than 1,000 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander respondents.
The rates of chronic disease among Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders were higher than that of Asians for hypertension (73.7% for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders compared to 65.7% for Asians) , diabetes (40.6% compared to 33.6%), arthritis – hip/knee (44.5% compared to 38.0%), arthritis – hand/wrist (41.2% compared to 31.5%), and sciatica (32.9% compared to 23.3%). The rates of osteoporosis were higher among Asians (26.2%) than Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (21.5%).
The highest rates of diabetes were among Multiple Race Asians (44.0%), Guamanian or Chamorro (42.9%), Other Pacific Islanders (42.3%), Other Asians (41.6%), Asian Indians (39.4%), Filipinos (38.5%), Native Hawaiians (38.5%), Samoans (37.3%), and Multiple Race Pacific Islanders (36.2%). The highest rates of hypertension were among Multiple Race Pacific Islanders (83.0%), Other Pacific Islanders (76.3%), Filipinos (75.1%), Native Hawaiians (71.8%), Vietnamese (68.4%), Multiple Race Asians (63.5%), Japanese (63.1%), Asian Indians (62.7%), Other Asians (62.5%), Chinese (61.8%), and Guamanian or Chamorro (60.7%).
Similarly, impairments in activities of daily living (ADLs) was much higher among Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders compared to Asians. ADLs refer to a set of common daily tasks that are necessary for personal self- care and independent living. For example, 45.9% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported difficulty walking, compared with 29.8% of Asians. 25.0% of of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported difficulty dressing, compared with 14.0% of Asians. And 13.7% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported difficulty eating, compared with 8.6% of Asians. Samoans (55.2%), Other Pacific Islanders (50.9%), Other Asians (38.9%) Native Hawaiians (36.1%), Filipinos (34.1%), Asian Indians (30.7%), Multiple Race Asians (30.5%) reported the most difficulty walking. Other Pacific Islanders (29.1%), Samoans (27.5%), Other Asians (22.3%), Vietnamese (17.1%), Native Hawaiians (16.4%), Multiple Race Asians (15.9%), and Filipinos (14.8%) reported the most difficulty dressing. Other Asians (16.5%), Other Pacific Islanders (15.5%), Vietnamese (13.5%), and Filipinos (9.1%), reported the most difficulty eating.
Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) assess independent living skills that are more complex than ADLs. In comparison to the ADLs, IADLs are considered to recognize earlier changes in functioning, and can be used as an indication of the need for intervention. Again, impairments in IADLs was much higher among Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders compared to Asians. 16.8% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported difficulty taking medication, compared with 9.5% of Asians. 22.3% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported difficulty preparing meals, compared with 15.4% of Asians. And 18.4% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders reported difficulty managing money, compared with 12.1% of Asians.
Samoans (18.5%), Other Asians (18.0%) Other Pacific Islanders (17.9%), Native Hawaiians (14.1%), Vietnamese (13.5%), and Multiple Race Asians (10.9%) reported the most difficulty taking medication. Samoans (35.6%), Other Pacific Islanders (25.9%), Other Asians (23%), Vietnamese (19.9%), Asian Indians (18.9%), Chinese (17.8%), and Multiple Race Asians (17.1%) reported the most difficulty preparing meals. Other Asians (20.3%), Other Pacific Islanders (19.2%), Vietnamese (16.4%), Multiple Race Asians (15.4%), Asian Indians (13.4%), and Filipinos (12.6%) reported the most difficulty managing money.
These data highlight the importance of disaggregating Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander data to identify and more effectively address the health disparities among these diverse populations.
Ignatius Bau 