Race and Ethnicity Commons^™

Premature Mortality Among U.S. Puerto Ricans, 1989, Annette B. Ramirez De Arellano

New England Journal of Public Policy

The indicator "years of potential life lost" (YPLL) points out the extent to which premature death among Puerto Ricans residing in the United States is a function of behaviors and social conditions. The computation of YPLL for various causes of death highlights the devastating effect of HIV infection, which emerges as the leading cause of premature death for both genders. Indeed, a 50 percent reduction in the HIV/AIDS death toll would save more years of potential life than the complete eradication of both cancer and diabetes. Accidents and homicides follow HTV as leading causes of YPLL.

This indicator also underscores …

The Health Status And Lost Earnings Of Hispanic And Non-Hispanic Women, Janis Barry Figueroa

New England Journal of Public Policy

Based on data from the 1990 early release file of the Latino sample of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this article examines the loss of earnings suffered by disabled or health-limited Hispanic women workers. For comparative purposes, the author created an identical analysis based on a sample of black and white non-Hispanic women from the 1989 original-sample PSID. The research also considers the prevalence of poor health among Latinas to ascertain whether their lower labor-force participation, earnings, and number of hours worked can be associated with episodes of poor health. The empirical results show that Hispanic women are …

Puerto Ricans' Access To Health Care, Ralph Rivera

New England Journal of Public Policy

The shift toward cost containment in health policy over the past decade has had negative consequences for the most vulnerable populations in the country, namely, ethnic minorities, the poor, and the uninsured. The Puerto Rican population is significantly affected by this shift, yet little is known of their health care usage. This study investigates the extent to which Puerto Ricans' health care use is determined by the relationship between predisposing variables, enabling variables, need, and other contextual variables and probes the implications of the findings for health policy. The adult Puerto Rican subsample (n = 1598) of the Hispanic Health …