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Mexican-Americans
ages 65 and older in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Illinois
are less likely to receive hip replacements than non-Hispanic
whites, according to researchers at the University of Texas
Health Science Center in San Antonio.
In their
study of thousands of Medicare claims, researchers selected
the four states because they have a high Hispanic population
which is primarily Mexican-American, avoiding states with
significant Hispanic populations that are not of Mexican-American
origin, such as Florida, New Jersey and New York.
Investigators
found that Mexican-Americans were seeking hip replacement
surgery at less than a third of the rate of non-Hispanic whites,
according to their study published in the journal Medical
Care.
"Previous
studies showed Hispanics underuse these procedures, and lack
of insurance was thought to be a causative factor," said
Dr. Agustin Escalante, associate professor of medicine at
UT and lead author of the study. "In this study we focused
on beneficiaries of Medicare, which is something people from
all ethnic groups receive upon reaching 65. It pays for total
hip replacement. We eliminated the insurance variable and
still came up with a disparity that is not explained by cost
of procedures or insurance."
Escalante
speculates that Hispanics who need hip replacement may not
know anyone else who has had the surgery. Also, researchers
did not rule out the possibility that arthritis, which causes
the need for hip replacement surgery, may occur less frequently
in Mexican-Americans than in non-Hispanic whites.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of June 2, 2002
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