Patterns of Mortality in California Hmong, 1988–2002

Background From mid-1980s to early 1990s, there were several studies evaluating a condition known as “nocturnal sudden death syndrome” among the healthy, young Hmong (immigrants from Laos) individuals who mysteriously died from unknown causes during the night. To date, very little has been reported on the mortality patterns in the Hmong. The purpose of the present study is to examine causes of death (COD) and compare age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) in the Hmong with those of non-Hispanic white (NHW) population in California, which may yield useful data for health prevention and planning purposes. Methods This study was based on 2,744 Hmong deaths occurred in California from 1988 to 2002. To calculate AAMR, Hmong population at risk of dying was derived by interpolating Hmong population counts from the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses. For comparison, AAMR were calculated for both Hmong and NHW, and the statistical test, incidence rate ratio, was used to examine differences in relative mortality risk of each major COD between Hmong and NHW. Results AAMR are highest in neoplasm (184.0/100,000), circulatory (277.9/100,000) and respiratory (100.0/100,000) diseases for both Hmong and NHW. The AAMR for all COD during the entire study time period was 879.5/100,000 in males and 736.0/100,000 in females. AAMR for all other COD range from 4.9/100,000 to 67.2/100,000. Hmong experienced 1.3–1.9 times higher mortality rates for certain COD, compared to NHW. Conclusion The interesting findings of this study are the differences in AAMR observed for lower ranking COD between Hmong and NHW. Hmong were found to be experiencing 1.3–1.9 times higher mortality rates for injuries and poisonings, digestive diseases, prenatal conditions, ENMID (endocrine, nutritional, metabolic, immunity disorders), infections and parasitic illnesses, and congenital anomalies when compared to NHW. However, while Hmong women were found to have statistically significantly higher mortality risk for injuries and poisonings (P-value < 0.05), ENMID (P-value < 0.05), and infections and parasitic ailments (P-value < 0.05) when compare to NHW women, Hmong men were observed to be at statistically significantly higher mortality risk for just infections and parasitic diseases (P-value < 0.05) when compared to NHW men