Abstract A069: Leading causes of death among Asian American individuals compared with Pacific Islander individuals in the United States, 2018-2020
Authors: Vo Jacqueline B. , Bess Jazmyn L , Taparra Kekoa , Mitra Paloma R. , Berrington de Gonzalez Amy , Freedman Neal D. , Shiels Meredith S. , Shing Jaimie Z. 
Published: September 2024

Background: Asian American and Pacific Islander races are two distinct groups that continue to be aggregated in many large, national mortality statistics in the United States (US), which leads to structural biases encoded into databases and inaccurate health implications that may deprive Pacific Islander individuals from opportunities for interventions aimed at reducing health disparities. Examining mortality rates for disaggregated Asian American and Pacific Islander populations across all 50 states was not possible until 2018. We compared the leading causes of death between Asian American and Pacific Islander individuals in the US during 2018-2020, stratified by sex and age. Methods: Cause of death among non-Hispanic Asian American and Pacific Islander individuals aged ≥20 years who died during 2018-2020 were obtained from the US National Center for Health Statistics. Age-standardized all-cause mortality rates (MRs) and the 5 leading causes of death were reported per 100,000 person-years separately for Asian American and Pacific Islander individuals, by sex (female/male) and age (20-54/55-64/65-74/75- 84 years). MR ratios (MRRs) were calculated by comparing MRs among Pacific Islander with Asian American individuals (reference group), by sex and age. Results: During 2018-2020, 63,338 female and 85,601 male deaths occurred among Asian American adults, and 4,116 female and 5,512 male deaths occurred among Pacific Islander adults. Compared to Asian American individuals, all-cause mortality was higher for Pacific Islander females (MRR=2.50,95%CI=2.43-2.59) and males (MRR=2.10,95%CI=2.04-2.16). Cancer was the leading cause of death for Asian American (MR=93.8) and Pacific Islander females (MR=181.6) and second for Asian American (MR=100.4) and Pacific Islander males (MR=185.2) after heart disease. Death rates for leading causes were substantially higher for Pacific Islander compared to Asian American females: cancer (MRR=1.93,95%CI=1.82-2.06), heart disease (MRR=3.18,95%CI=2.95-3.42), stroke (MRR=2.41,95%CI=2.13-2.73), diabetes (MRR=4.03,95%CI=3.55-4.56), and COVID-19 (MRR=2.60,95%CI=2.25-3.01) and for Pacific Islander compared to Asian American males: heart disease (MRR=2.56,95%CI=2.42-2.71), cancer (MRR=1.52,95%CI=1.42-1.62, diabetes (MRR=3.14,95%CI=2.81-3.50), accidental death (MRR=2.60,95%CI=2.33-2.88), and COVID-19 (MRR=2.04,95%CI=1.82-2.27). The largest relative cancer mortality rate disparity occurred in those aged 20-54 years and declined with older age among women (MRR range=1.37-2.67) and men (MRR range=1.16-2.26). Conclusion: Cancer was among the leading cause of death for both Asian American and Pacific Islander individuals, but cancer mortality rates were twice as high among Pacific Islander women and men compared to Asian American women and men. These disparities persisted among Pacific Islander individuals for nearly all leading causes of death, regardless of sex and age, underscoring the need to disaggregate Pacific Islander from Asian American race data to improve tailored health equity-focused interventions.

Citation Format: Jacqueline B. Vo, Jazmyn L Bess, Kekoa Taparra, Paloma R. Mitra, Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, Neal D. Freedman, Meredith S. Shiels, Jaimie Z. Shing. Leading causes of death among Asian American individuals compared with Pacific Islander individuals in the United States, 2018-2020 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A069.