title: Population health status of South Asian and African-Caribbean communities in the United Kingdom.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Population health status scores are routinely used to inform economic evaluation and evaluate the impact of disease and/or treatment on health. It is unclear whether the health status in black and minority ethnic groups are comparable to these population health status data. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-status in South Asian and African-Caribbean populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study recruiting participants aged ≥ 45 years (September 2006 to July 2009) from 20 primary care centres in Birmingham, United Kingdom.10,902 eligible subjects were invited, 5,408 participated (49.6%). 5,354 participants had complete data (49.1%) (3442 South Asian and 1912 African-Caribbean). Health status was assessed by interview using the EuroQoL EQ-5D.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean EQ-5D score in South Asian participants was 0.91 (standard deviation (SD) 0.18), median score 1 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.848 to 1) and in African-Caribbean participants the mean score was 0.92 (SD 0.18), median 1 (IQR 1 to 1). Compared with normative data from the UK general population, substantially fewer African-Caribbean and South Asian participants reported problems with mobility, usual activities, pain and anxiety when stratified by age resulting in higher average health status estimates than those from the UK population. Multivariable modelling showed that decreased health-related quality of life (HRQL) was associated with increased age, female gender and increased body mass index. A medical history of depression, stroke/transient ischemic attack, heart failure and arthritis were associated with substantial reductions in HRQL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reported HRQL of these minority ethnic groups was substantially higher than anticipated compared to UK normative data. Participants with chronic disease experienced significant reductions in HRQL and should be a target for health intervention.
authors.affiliation: MRC Midland Hub for Trials Methodology Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. m.calvert@bham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calvert
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Freemantle
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Gregory Y H
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lip
authors.forename: Paramjit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001211:Asia, Western / Q000208:ethnology; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology