Self-reported hypertension and race among Hispanics in the National Health Interview Survey

To investigate the association between race and hypertension among Hispanics and non-Hispanics by using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an annual survey of US households and to compare the strength of these associations among Hispanics and non-Hispanics.

Analyses were limited to Hispanics and non-Hispanics 18 years of age and older who self-identified as White or Black/African-American during the 2000-2002 NHIS for a final sample of 88,453 adults including 12,083 Hispanics. Hypertension was self-reported during the survey interview. Covariates included in the analyses as potential confounders were sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors for hypertension.

Hispanic Blacks had higher prevalence of self-reported hypertension than Hispanic Whites. Hispanic Blacks had higher odds of hypertension than non-Hispanic and Hispanic Whites. However, these associations did not achieve significance level. No difference was seen on the strength of the association between race and hypertension among Hispanics and non-Hispanics (OR 1.31 vs 1.52, P interaction for race and ethnicity .91). The protective effect for hypertension on Hispanics had been disappearing over time (P interaction race/ethnicity and survey year .002).

This study underscores that racial categorization could be a significant predictor of health status for Hispanics in our society. As time goes by, we are curious to see how embedding in US racial categories and assimilation into Western culture influence the life and health of Hispanics.