Decomposing the Latino Diabetes Disparity: An Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition

• In Event: 582 - Section on Medical Sociology Paper Session. Health Inequalities: Local, National, and Global Perspectives

Abstract

This study explores how social determinants of health explain the Latino diabetes disparity by examining the associations between social determinants of health and self-reported diabetes within the US Latino population and the associations of these social determinants of health in explaining the difference in self-reported diabetes prevalence between the US Latino population and the non-Latino population. This project uses the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2006-2011, accessed via the Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) data managed by the Minnesota Population Center (MPC). Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is used to examine the patterns explaining the difference in self-reported diabetes between the Latino and non-Latino population. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition shows that individual characteristics (particularly age, race, BMI, and smoking habits), measures of social inequality, measures of social ties, measures of acculturation, and measures of Latino ethnic origins inform the explained difference in self-reported diabetes between the Latino and non-Latino population. Social inequality measures contribute a larger part of the explained difference than social ties measures or acculturation measures.

Author

• Kate Cartwright, University of New Mexico