Individual health status and racial minority concentration in US states and counties.
OBJECTIVE
We examined whether the positive association between mortality rates and racial minority concentration documented in ecological studies would be found for health status after control for race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and region of residence.


METHODS
We estimated least squares and probit models using aggregate and individual health status data from the 1995, 1997, and 1999 versions of the Current Population Survey merged with data from the US Bureau of the Census regarding state- and county-level racial minority concentration.


RESULTS
Except in the case of older Whites, racial minority concentration was not associated with health status after control for individual characteristics and fixed regional factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Racial minority concentration may not be a determinant of individual health; differential migration patterns may explain the anomalous result for older Whites.
Mellor
Jennifer M
JM
Department of Economics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795, USA. jmmell@wm.edu
Milyo
Jeffrey D
JD
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D009026:Mortality; D011336:Probability; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States; D044465:White People