Is there homogeneity in periodontal health between African Americans and Mexican Americans?
OBJECTIVE
This study identified and contrasted prevalence and predictors of periodontitis among African Americans, Mexican Americans, and non-Hispanic Whites in the US adult population.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study. This study compared those with and without periodontitis in each racial/ethnic group.


METHODS
This study was limited to records of US African-American, Mexican-American, and non-Hispanic White adults at least 17 years of age who received a complete periodontal assessment as part of the dental examination in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994).


RESULTS
Despite the findings that Mexican Americans were less educated, poorer, and had less insurance coverage than African Americans, Mexican Americans had a similar prevalence of periodontitis as non-Hispanic Whites. African Americans had the highest prevalence among all groups. A similar scenario was observed in the multiple logistic analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Mexican Americans had periodontal health profiles closer to non-Hispanic Whites than did African Americans, despite the shared "minority" status. Public health research and practice should explicitly recognize that while "minorities" are considered a homogeneous group, they do not necessarily share the same health profiles.
Borrell
Luisa N
LN
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. lnb2@columbia.edu
Lynch
John
J
Neighbors
Harold
H
Burt
Brian A
BA
Gillespie
Brenda W
BW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data