Health Care for Mexican Americans Lacking

March 20, 2004 (By James W. Brosnan, Scripps Howard News Serices) - Mexican Americans and whites have about the same rates of high cholesterol and high blood pressure but whites are much more likely to be treated for both conditions, according to a study released yesterday.

One-third of Mexican Americans have high levels of cholesterol in their blood, about the same as white Americans. About 29 percent of both population groups suffer from high blood pressure.

Mexican Americans, the largest subgroup of Hispanics in this country, are less likely than whites to be aware they have high cholesterol or high blood pressure and are less likely to be treated for either condition, according to the National Hispanic Medical Association, which launched a campaign to eliminate the differences between health care for Hispanics and other Americans.

"Hispanics in this country need our attention. We have serious, serious disparities in this country," said Dr. Elena Rios, president of the association.

The study was conducted for the association by researchers at Wake Forest University and Pfizer Inc., the drug maker.

It looked at government health surveys between 1998 and 2000 for Mexican Americans, in part because the government takes detailed samples of the Mexican American population.

The study found that only 32 percent of Mexican Americans are aware of having high cholesterol compared with 58 percent of whites, and only 38 percent of Mexican American men have ever had their cholesterol checked, compared with 73 percent of white men, according to an analysis of health data between 1988 and 2000.

Mexican Americans are less likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, 58 percent to 68 percent for whites, or treated for the condition, 39 percent to 59 percent.

One barrier to better awareness, the study points out, is that 26 percent of Mexican Americans lack health insurance compared with 11 percent of whites.