A Comparison of Common Health Indicators From Two Surveys of Latinos in the Bronx,New York

Abstract

Introduction:

Population health surveys inform and demonstrate the impact of public health policies. However, the performance of such surveys in specific groups of interest (e.g., Hispanics/Latinos in a neighborhood of New York City) is rarely studied.

Method:

We compared measures for obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and current smoking based on the New York City Community Health Survey (CHS, a telephone survey of New York City adults) with the Hispanic Community Health Survey/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), an in-person survey of Hispanic/Latino adults in four communities in the United States (2008-2011), including the Bronx. CHS data were limited to Hispanic/Latinos living in the HCHS/SOL Bronx catchment area.

Results:

Compared with CHS, HCHS/SOL estimated higher prevalence of obesity (in HCHS/SOL, P_HCHS/SOL = 45.0% vs. in CHS, P_CHS = 30.6%, p < .01) and current smoking (P_HCHS/SOL = 21.2% vs. P_CHS = 16.2%, p < .01) but similar for hypertension (P_HCHS/SOL = 33.1% vs. P_CHS = 33.8%, p > .05) and diabetes (P_HCHS/SOL = 15.2% vs. P_CHS = 15.7%, p > .05). Stratified estimates (by age, sex, education, and Hispanic/Latino heritage) followed similar trends.

Conclusion:

Our study emphasizes the importance of assessing potential bias in population-based surveys of Hispanics/Latinos and other populations of interest and highlights the complex nature of measuring health outcomes via population-based surveys.

Keywords

population survey Latino health smoking hypertension obesity diabetes

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