Background
Since 1989, Asians and Pacific Islanders have been identified on death
certificates by the selection of "Other" as a race in combination
with the specification of the country of origin or ancestry. Reported
race categories are Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Asian Indian,
Korean, Samoan, Vietnamese, Guamian, and other Asian or Pacific Islander.
Due to concerns about the quality of these data, mortality statistics
for Asians and Pacific Islanders in New Jersey have not been previously
published.
Reported Asian and Pacific Islander Mortality Data
Asians and Pacific Islanders comprised 3.6 percent of New Jersey's
population in 1990. By 2000, the percentage had risen to 5.7. As the
Asian and Pacific Islander populations in New Jersey continue to grow,
the need for data on the mortality experience of these segments of the
population increases. Beginning with New
Jersey Health Statistics, 1999, the Center for Health Statistics
(CHS) will publish Asian and Pacific Islander mortality data with the
understanding that it is incomplete. The following tables
have been created to provide trend data for the years previously unpublished.
As the tables show, reported death rates for Asians
and Pacific Islanders are unusually low. Throughout the 1990s, the Asian
and Pacific Islander age-adjusted mortality rate
was about one-third that of the total population and the crude
death rate was about one-sixth that of the total population. Discrepancies
of this size are clear indicators of undermeasurement of Asian and Pacific
Islander race on death certificates. Therefore, while these figures
provide some information about Asian and Pacific Islander mortality,
they should be used with caution and almost certainly do not represent
a complete measurement of deaths to Asians and Pacific Islanders.
Availability of Population Data
The 1990
Census was the first time that population data were reported separately
for Asians and Pacific Islanders. Prior to 1990, population was only
reported for white, black, and other. Therefore, mortality rates cannot
be calculated for Asians and Pacific Islanders prior to 1990. Data from
the 2000
Census reports Asians separately from Native Hawaiians and other
Pacific Islanders.
Analysis of Undermeasurement
Undermeasurement of Asians and Pacific Islanders on death certificates
is a nationwide problem. The National
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) estimates that the undercount
is approximately 13 percent nationally1. While Asians and
Pacific Islanders are thought to also be undermeasured in the Census,
and thus in the denominator of mortality rates, this is believed to
be more than offset by the undermeasurement on death certificates. It
has not been determined if NCHS's undercount estimate is uniform across
states, counties, time, age groups, sex, causes of deaths, and countries
of origin. Therefore, it is most likely inaccurate to simply adjust
all data upward by 13 percent.
An attempt by New Jersey's CHS in 2001 to estimate the undercount of
Asians and Pacific Islanders using a surname list was unsuccessful.
The only available list contained 7,883 names, many of which were not
exclusively Asian (e.g., King, Young, Ward). Additionally, the list
only included Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Filipino surnames. According
to the 2000
Census, 35 percent of New Jersey's Asians and Pacific Islanders
were Asian Indian, 20 percent were Chinese, 18 percent were Filipino,
and 14 percent were Korean. Only 3 percent were Japanese. Without a
better surname list and more information from the death certificate
in the electronic file (specifically, mother's surname and birthplace
for those currently coded as "remainder of world"), CHS cannot
use the existing list of Asian surnames to estimate the true mortality
experience of Asians and Pacific Islanders in New Jersey. The complete implementation of the Electronic Death Registry System in 2005 should
alleviate the undercount problem to some degree.
Asian and Pacific Islander Death Data Tables
References
1 Rosenberg HM, Maurer JD, Sorlie PD, Johnson NJ, et al.
Quality of Death Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin: A Summary of
Current Research, 1999. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital
and Health Statistics 2(128). 1999. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_02/sr02_128.pdf
