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Advancing Health Disparities Research: The Need to Include Asian American Subgroup Populations

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Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Despite recognition that the health outcomes of Asian American subgroups are heterogeneous, research has mainly focused on the six largest subgroups. There is limited knowledge of smaller subgroups and their health outcomes. This scoping review identifies trends in the health outcomes, reveals those which are under-researched, and provide recommendations on data collection with 24 Asian American subgroups.

Methods

Our literature search of peer-reviewed English language primary source articles published between 1991 and 2018 was conducted across six databases (Embase, PubMed, Web of Sciences, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Academic Search Complete) and Google Scholar, yielding 3844 articles. After duplicate removal, we independently screened 3413 studies to determine whether they met inclusion criteria. Seventy-six studies were identified for inclusion in this review. Data were extracted on study characteristics, content, and findings.

Findings

Seventy-six studies met the inclusion criteria. The most represented subgroups were Chinese (n = 74), Japanese (n = 60), and Filipino (n = 60), while Indonesian (n = 1), Malaysian (n = 1), and Burmese (n = 1) were included in only one or two studies. Several Asian American subgroups listed in the 2010 U.S. Census were not represented in any of the studies. Overall, the most studied health conditions were cancer (n = 29), diabetes (n = 13), maternal and infant health (n = 10), and cardiovascular disease (n = 9). Studies showed that health outcomes varied greatly across subgroups.

Conclusions

More research is required to focus on smaller-sized subgroup populations to obtain accurate results and address health disparities for all groups.

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Notes

  1. The numbers reported in this result section are numbers from the initial cancer studies.

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Funding

Lor was supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23NR019289. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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    Stephanie Yom

  2. University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Maichou Lor

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Yom, S., Lor, M. Advancing Health Disparities Research: The Need to Include Asian American Subgroup Populations. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 9, 2248–2282 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01164-8

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