title: Hospitalization Rates for Acute Myocardial Infarction Among Asian-American Subgroups: Have We Been Underestimating the Problem?
abstract: Concerns about the quality of race/ethnicity data collected by hospitals have limited our understanding of healthcare disparities affecting ethnic minorities in the United States. Using data from the New Jersey State Inpatient Databases and the American Community Survey, we calculated age-adjusted AMI hospitalization rates for Asian-American subgroups before (2005-2006) and after (2008-2009) New Jersey hospitals implemented standardized practices to collect more accurate granular race/ethnicity data from patients. Rates were reported per 100,000 persons for Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese subgroups. AMI hospitalization rates increased for all subgroups except Vietnamese following implementation of the New Jersey program; increases were statistically significant for Asian Indian, Chinese, and Korean subgroups. Rates of hospitalization for AMI increased significantly for multiple Asian-American subgroups following implementation of the New Jersey program. National population health metrics for Asian-American subgroups may be prone to significant underestimation without widespread utilization of similar practices.
authors.affiliation: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. rosette.j.chakkalakal@vanderbilt.edu.|Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health, Department of Internal Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1215 21st Ave South, 6000 Medical Center East, NT, Nashville, TN, 37232-8300, USA. rosette.j.chakkalakal@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Rosette J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9318-1856
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Chakkalakal
authors.affiliation: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Justin P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Policy, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nunez-Smith
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and Center for Health Outcomes and Policy, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Brahmajee K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Nallamothu
authors.affiliation: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Romana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hasnain-Wynia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000145:classification*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005006:Ethnicity; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000208:ethnology*; D009515:New Jersey
keywords: Asian Americans; Data collection; Ethnic groups; Minority health; Myocardial infarction