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**News Releases****2000      | 1999 | 1998      | 1997 | 1996      | 1995 | 1994********Fact Sheets****2000      | 1999 | 1998      | 1997 | 1996      | 1995 | 1994****Home | Search    NCHS | Contact us******Puerto Ricans' Health Fares Worse Than Other U.S. Hispanics**

**For    Immediate Release: February 25, 2000**

**Contact: NCHS/CDC Public    Affairs (301) 458-4800    E-mail: [email protected]**

Health Outcomes Among Hispanic    Subgroups:  Data from the National Health Interview Survey, 1992-95. Advance Data No.    310. 15. pp. (PHS) 2000-1250.**View/download PDF** 207 KB

Puerto Rican persons in the mainland    U.S. fare significantly worse than other U.S. Hispanics on a number of health indicators,    according to a new report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The report, "Health Outcomes Among    Hispanic Subgroups: Data from the National Health Interview Survey, 1992-95" looks at    data from the National Health Interview Survey collected from 1992 through 1995 and    focuses primarily on four groups: Mexican Americans, who make up 63 percent of the U.S.    Hispanic population, Puerto Ricans, who make up 11 percent, Cuban Americans, who make up 4    percent, and "other Hispanic," who constitute 22 percent of the population. The    report found:

More than 1 in 5 Puerto Ricans reported an    activity limitation, compared with about 15 percent of the Cuban and Mexican population.Eighteen percent of Puerto Rican individuals    reported being in fair or poor health, compared with 14 percent of Cubans and 12 percent    of "other Hispanic" groups.A larger percent (83 percent) of Puerto Ricans    reported seeing a physician in the past year, compared with 69 percent of Mexican    Americans, 77 percent of "other Hispanic," and 78 percent of Cuban    Americans.  Conversely, 7 percent of Mexican persons, 4 percent of Cubans, and 3    percent of Puerto Ricans reported not having seen a doctor in the past 5 years or more,    though it is not clear what role health insurance or access to health care played.Puerto Rican persons reported more days spent in    bed because of illness (10.4) than Mexican persons (8.0) and "other Hispanic"    (7.2).Cuban persons had fewer days lost from school or    work (3.4) than Mexican persons (5.7), Puerto Rican persons (6.0), and  "other    Hispanic" (6.9).Puerto Ricans had a higher percent of people    with at least one hospital stay.Although there was little overall difference    between Hispanic subgroups regarding smoking status, more Puerto Rican women were current    smokers (21 percent) than Cuban and Mexican American women (12 percent) and "other    Hispanic" women (15 percent).Cuban individuals reported a higher level of    knowledge about AIDS than other Hispanic groups; 14 percent of Mexican Americans had no    knowledge of AIDS at all, whereas almost half of Cubans reported at least some knowledge    of AIDS.

"Health Outcomes Among Hispanic    Subgroups: Data from the National Health Interview Survey, 1992-1995" can be    downloaded directly from the NCHS Web site at **http://www.cdc.gov/nchs**.

 

 
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This page last reviewed September 12, 2000

**U.S.    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES****Centers    for Disease Control and Prevention**    National Center for Health Statistics    Division of Data Services     Hyattsville, MD    20782-2003    (301) 458-4636
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