Article Review
Since 1982, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has reported a number of respondents, with each provided their race. However, if multiple race applies to one, they are asked to provide the race that best describes them, thus, defined to be as their “primary race”. With this survey, one can assume the probability of specific health characteristics on a particular race, may it be a single race or their primary race. Therefore, there is a necessity to study the association of race or ethnicity and health characteristics from these reports.
In 2006, a report studying the NHIS data from 1997-2003 was written by Parker entitled “The Role of Reported Primary Race on Health Measures for Multiple Race Respondents in the National Health Interview Survey”. This report analyzes the possible association of specific health characteristics on a particular race. Also, the report shows the trends among multiple race groups which specifies the connection of specific health characteristics and the respondents’ primary race. Moreover, the report also shows the distribution of certain health characteristics among different races.
The main points of the report is in the fact that the data of the NHIS from 1997-2003, which involves more than half a million respondents, must be enough to provide for the purposes of Parker’s report. Also, the classifications were well-defined. However, the report lacked information about different sub-racial groups. For example, the category under the “Black” group constitutes the groups with African descents. The report could have been more elaborate if some sub-racial groups were classified, such as Nigerians under the “Black” group, Koreans under the “Asian” group, Puerto Rican under the “Hispanic” groups, etc. Nonetheless, the report shows a successful analysis that could serve as a basis involving the association of race and health characteristics.
Work Cited:
Parker, Jennifer. “The Role of Reported Primary Race on Health Measures for Multiple Race Respondents in the National Health Interview Survey.” Public Health Reports, 121 (2006): 160-168. Print.
