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E-Border Health
The Institute for Health Promotion Research of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has released the South Texas Health Status Review, which is the first comprehensive statistical illustration of health disparities that impact residents in South Texas’ 38 counties. The Review compares South Texas’ prevalence and mortality rates for nearly three-dozen health indicators – from cancer to obesity to homicide – to the rest of Texas and the nation by age, sex, race/ethnicity and location.
The 147-page report was authored by Amelie G. Ramirez, Ph.D., Director, IHPR, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UT Health Science Center Institute for Health Promotion Research.
The report may be of particular interest to border health partners and others in the United States – México border region.
Executive Summary
South Texas, the 38-county area encompassing the Texas-Mexico border counties from Cameron County to Val Verde County, as well as Bexar County (includes San Antonio), Webb County (includes Laredo), and the Lower Rio Grande Valley region (Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo, and Starr counties), is home to a unique population of the region’s four million residents, almost 20 percent of the entire state population in 2006, two-thirds are Hispanic. Compared to the rest of Texas, this population is less educated, has a considerably lower per capita personal income, and has less access to health care. One-third of South Texas adults are uninsured. This report focuses on the health of South Texas residents and explores whether there are health disparities among different populations within South Texas or between people who live there and people who live in the rest of Texas and nation. This study examines many health status indicators for disease incidence and mortality and behavioral factors that might put individuals at higher risk of disease or premature mortality. These health status indicators and factors were selected for their preventative potential and are not mutually exclusive. Also, many diseases often are underreported. For 12 of the health conditions studied, South Texas was at a disadvantage compared to the rest of Texas. For another 12 health conditions, incidence/mortality rates or prevalence in South Texas were lower than the rest of Texas. Four conditions had similar rates in South Texas and the rest of Texas. For many of the health conditions, there was greater occurrence of disease in Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites, and Hispanics in South Texas often had higher rates than Hispanics in the rest of Texas. The 12 conditions for which South Texas had a higher incidence or prevalence than the rest of Texas were: Tuberculosis; Chlamydia; Cervical Cancer; Liver Cancer; Stomach Cancer; Gallbladder Cancer; Child and Adolescent Leukemia
(Some conditions in South Texas rival those of developing countries. This includes small towns called colonias,…which typically have inadequate physical infrastructure and poverty-stricken living conditions.)
To view the report, click here.
You may also access the report at http://ihpr.uthscsa.edu/rpt_toc.html
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