- Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death for Asian Americans, and also was the 10th leading cause of death for White Americans, in 2009.1
- Older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States.2
- Southeast Asian refugees are at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with trauma experienced before and after immigration to the U.S. One study found that 70% of Southeast Asian refugees receiving mental health care were diagnosed with PTSD.3
- For Asian Americans, the rate of serious psychological distress increases with lower levels of income, as it does in most other ethnic populations.
- The overall suicide rate for Asian Americans is half that of the White population.
MENTAL HEALTH STATUS:
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|
1.6 |
3.1 |
0.5 |
Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table
59.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.4MB]
|
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Below 100% |
3.3 |
10.7 |
0.3 |
100%-less than 200% |
-- |
5.5 |
-- |
200% or greater |
0.9 |
1.9 |
0.5 |
Source: CDC. Health Data Interactive.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hdi.htm. [Accessed 07/07/2012].
|
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Sadness |
1.9 |
2.8 |
0.7 |
Hopelessness |
1.3 |
2.0 |
0.7 |
Worthlessness |
0.8 |
1.7 |
0.5 |
Everything is an effort |
4.0 |
5.6 |
0.7 |
Source: CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 3.1MB]
|
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Nervousness, all or most of time |
1.8 |
4.9 |
0.4 |
Restlessness, all or most of time |
2.4 |
6.4 |
0.4 |
Source: CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2010. Table 16.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf [PDF | 3.1MB]
Population |
Serious distress |
Ratio / All Asian Population |
Ratio / Whites |
---|---|---|---|
All Whites |
2.9 |
- |
- |
All Asians |
1.9 |
- |
1.7 |
Chinese |
1.6 |
0.8 |
0.6 |
Filipino |
2.5 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
Asian Indian |
1.4 |
0.7 |
0.5 |
Japanese |
1.1 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
Vietnamese |
2.5 |
1.3 |
0.9 |
Korean |
1.3 |
0.7 |
0.4 |
Other Asian & NHOPI* |
2.6 |
1.4 |
0.9 |
Source: CDC, 2008. Health Characteristics of the Asian Adult Population: United States, 2004-2006. Table 7.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad394.pdf [PDF, 476KB]
DEATH RATES:
|
Asian/Pacific Islander |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian/Pacific Islander /Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Male |
9.2 |
23.2 |
0.4 |
Female |
3.8 |
6.0 |
0.6 |
Total |
6.3 |
14.3 |
0.4 |
Source: CDC, 2012. National Vital Statistic Report. Vol. 60, Num 3 Table 17 and Table 16.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_03.pdf [PDF | 2MB]
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|
6.3 |
14.3 |
0.4 |
Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 24.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]
|
Asian American Men |
Non-Hispanic White Men |
Asian American Men/ Non-Hispanic White Men Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
15-24 years |
9.6 |
18.9 |
0.5 |
25-44 years |
10.1 |
28.8 |
0.4 |
45-64 years |
12.7 |
33.7 |
0.4 |
65 years and over |
15.4 |
33.1 |
0.5 |
All ages |
9.2 |
23.2 |
0.4 |
Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 39.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]
|
Asian American Women |
Non-Hispanic White Women |
Asian American Women/ Non-Hispanic White Women Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
15-24 years |
5.3 |
4.0 |
1.3 |
25-44 years |
4.2 |
8.1 |
0.5 |
45-64 years |
5.0 |
10.6 |
0.5 |
65 years and over |
4.8 |
4.5 |
1.1 |
All ages |
3.8 |
6.0 |
0.6 |
Source: CDC, 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 39.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]
ADOLESCENTS:
|
Asian/Pacific Islander |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian/Pacific Islander /Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Male |
7.5 |
14.0 |
0.5 |
Female |
4.2 |
3.5 |
1.2 |
Total |
5.9 |
8.9 |
0.7 |
Source: CDC, 2012. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Accessed 07/07/2012]
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html
|
Asian |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian/ |
---|---|---|---|
Men |
17.1 |
12.8 |
1.3 |
Women |
21.1 |
18.4 |
1.1 |
Total |
18.9 |
15.5 |
1.2 |
Source: CDC, 2012. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. [Accessed 07/07/2012]
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline
|
Asian |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian |
---|---|---|---|
Men |
7.0 |
4.6 |
1.5 |
Women |
15.0 |
7.9 |
1.9 |
Total |
10.8 |
6.2 |
1.7 |
Source: CDC, 2012. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. [Accessed 07/07/2012]
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline
ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE:
|
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Male |
- |
10.8 |
- |
Female |
4.4 |
20.8 |
0.2 |
Total |
4.5 |
16.0 |
0.3 |
Source: 2010 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 17_3_1.2a and 2b
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr10/index.html
|
Asian American |
Non-Hispanic White |
Asian American/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio |
---|---|---|---|
Male |
- |
9.1 |
- |
Female |
- |
18.3 |
- |
Total |
3.4 |
13.9 |
0.2 |
Source: 2010 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 17_3_3.2a and 2b
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr10/index.html
NOTE: *NHOPI = Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
1CDC, 2011. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Accessed 07/07/2012] http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html
2U.S. Surgeon General, 2001. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44251
3NIH, National Diabetes Education Program, 2006. Silent Trauma: Diabetes, Health Status, and the Refugee: Southeast Asians in the United States. http://ndep.nih.gov/media/SilentTrauma.pdf [PDF | 2.3MB]
You will need Adobe Acrobat® Reader™ to view PDF files located on this site. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat® Reader™, you can download here for free.
![Exit Disclaimer](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130225214103im_/http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/images/extllinksdisclaimer.gif)