Did You Know?

Medical Facts on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

"Minority faculty [Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians] at medical institutions were less likely than white faculty to hold senior academic rank. This finding was not explained by potential confounders such as years as a faculty member or measures of academic productivity." Palepu A et al. JAMA 1998 Sep 2;280(9):767-71

Asian Indians have the highest rates of coronary artery disease (CAD) of any ethnic group studied; this particular CAD occurs early in age and its predilection for accelerated atherosclerosis results in a unusually high premature morbidity & mortality for young Asian Indians. Clinical Cardiology 18, 131-135 (1995)

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have some of the highest rates of tuberculosis and hepatitis B in the U.S.

The cervical cancer rate for Vietnamese American women is nearly five times higher than that of White women.

The rate of liver cancer among Vietnamese Americans is eleven times higher than for Whites.

Two million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders do not have health insurance, with Korean Americans have the highest rate of uninsurance among all racial/ethnic groups (40%).

30% of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders living in New York City live in overcrowded housing.

The age-adjusted death rate for Native Hawaiians is 901 per 100,000, compared to 524 per 100,000 for the total U.S. population.

Asian American / Pacific Islanders show higher levels of depressive symptoms than caucasian Americans.

Older Asian-American women have the highest risk of suicide rate of women over 65 in the U.S..

Nearly half of this population has difficulty accessing mental health treatment because they do not speak English or cannot find services to meet their needs.

One study found that 70% of Southeast Asian refugees receiving mental health care met diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder.

General Background on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

As of July 1999, there were 10.9 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, or 4.0% of the U.S. population.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders remain the fastest growing racial/ethnic population in the U.S., increasing 95% from 1980 to 1990 and another 43% from 1990 to July 1999.

The Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the U.S. is expected to continue to grow, to 37.6 million persons, or 9% of the U.S. population, by the year 2050.

35% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders live in linguistically isolated households, where no one aged 14 or older speaks English “very well.” Sixty-one percent of Hmong American households, 56% of Cambodian American households, 52% of Laotian American households, 44% of Vietnamese American households, 41% of Korean American households and 40% of Chinese American households are linguistically isolated.

1.4 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, or 13% of the Asian population, were at or below the Federal poverty level in 1998; the 1989 poverty rates for Hmong Americans was 66%, 43% for Cambodian Americans and 35% for Laotian Americans.

Asian American and Pacific Islander children living in Minnesota were three times as likely to live in poverty (37%), compared to all children in Minnesota. Asian American and Pacific Islander children in Massachusetts were twice as likely to live in poverty (24%) compared to all children in Massachusetts.

Self-employed Vietnamese Americans only earned an average of $14,000 a year.

Less than 6% of Tongan Americans, Cambodian Americans, Laotian Americans and Hmong Americans have completed college.

Filipino youth have one of the highest high school dropout rates and one of the highest rates of teen suicide ideation and attempts.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 1999 and 2000; Department of Health and Human Services, 1999; Urban Institute Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center, 2000. Found at: http://www.apamsa.org/resources/aapi_highlights.html