Interpreting the paradoxical in the hispanic paradox: demographic and epidemiologic approaches

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Dec:954:140-74. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb02751.x.

Abstract

This paper discusses problems that are common to both the epidemiologic risk-factor approach and the demographic variable-based approach to studying population health. We argue that there is a shared reluctance to move away from a narrow variable-based thinking that pervades both disciplines, and a tendency to reify the multivariate linear procedures employed in both disciplines. In particular, we concentrate on the difficulties generated by classical variable-based approaches that are especially striking when one neglects selection processes and the use of strategies to minimize its effects. We illustrate these difficulties in terms of the so-called "Hispanic Paradox", which refers to comparative health advantages that some Hispanic groups appear to have. We find that much of what is conceived by demographers and epidemiologists as a paradox may not be paradoxical at all.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Causality
  • Demography*
  • Emigration and Immigration
  • Epidemiology*
  • Health Status*
  • Hispanic or Latino*
  • Humans
  • Infant, Low Birth Weight
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Mortality*
  • Risk Factors