US Pharm. 2006;31(9):8.
Roughly half (50.9%/143.4 million) of people in the United States are female. Of these, 29.3% (42.1 million) are of a racial/ethnic minority. Although minority women have many of the same health problems as white women, they tend to be in poorer health, use fewer health services, and suffer disproportionately from premature death, disease, and disabilities. Minority women comprise four major groups: African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American.
Preventive Services
Women of every racial/ethnic group have low pneumonia and influenza immunization rates. Minority women often do not receive preventive health tests, and the likelihood of undergoing these screenings declines with age.
Health Status
Some groups of minority women are more likely to die from heart disease, stroke, and cancer than are white women. Health problems occur more frequently in most populations of minority women than in white women. All the reasons why women's disease risks and mortality rates vary by race/ethnicity are not yet understood, although higher poverty rates, coupled with barriers to health education, preventive services, and medical care, may be causes.
Mortality Rates
For African-American women, the four leading causes of death, in order of prevalence, are heart disease, all malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases, and diabetes. African-American women have higher mortality rates from a number of diseases (e.g., heart disease, stroke, most cancers) than white women do.
In Native American women, the four leading causes of death, in order of prevalence, are heart disease, all cancers, accidents, and diabetes. These women have lower death rates from most major diseases (e.g., cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]) than white women do. However, their mortality rates from motor vehicle injuries, diabetes, chronic liver diseases, and homicide are higher than those for white women.
The four leading causes of death for Asian-American women, in order of prevalence, are all cancers, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and accidents. These women have lower death rates from most major diseases than do white women. While heart disease accounts for more than 25% of deaths in these women, their mortality rate from breast cancer and all cancers combined was the lowest of all populations.
Hispanic women and African-American women have the same four leading causes of death. Among Hispanic women, mortality rates from several diseases (e.g., stroke, COPD, cancers of the respiratory system and breast) are lower than that of white women, although their mortality rates from AIDS and homicide are much higher.
Promoting Minority Women's Health
The U.S. government is pursuing an agenda for improving women's health, targeting several initiatives to minority women (e.g., research on racial/ethnic differences in disease prevalence and outcomes, outreach programs for women who speak little English, recruiting minority women to work in health professions, and programs on cultural competence for health professionals).
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