234 - Pediatric Leading Causes of Death Among Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders (Aggregated and Disaggregated Subgroups) Compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (2005-2019)

Poster Number: 234
Publication Number: 234.1194

Background: Pediatric deaths serve as a barometer of the health of a community or nation. While Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the US, there remains a gap in understanding leading causes of child death among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) subgroups.

Objective: This study describes (1) differences in leading causes of pediatric death (age 0-19 years) for disaggregated AANHPI and Non Hispanic White (NHW) populations and (2) the total number of deaths, crude mortality rates and rate ratios (RR) from all causes of death among disaggregated AANHPI and NHW populations.

Design/Methods: Rankable causes of death were identified from CDC's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting Systems and NCHS reports. Mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System was pooled across 2005-2019 to identify pediatric leading causes of death for AANHPI aggregated and disaggregated subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander) and NHW. Results were stratified by standard age groupings ( < 1, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19) years. Data from the American Community Survey 1-year files were used to estimate population counts for each racial group. Overall rates were determined by dividing pooled death counts for each age and race category by the estimated aggregate populations, with the total NHW population as the RR reference category.

Results: The leading five causes of deaths between AANHPI subgroups and NHW were generally similar with congenital anomalies and unintentional injuries as the leading causes of death for < 1 and 15-19 years respectively. The highest rates of death occurred at the youngest and oldest spectrum of age. Crude mortality rates per 100,000 children < 1 year were 556.4 for NHW, 371.2 for aggregated AANHPI, and 894.1 for NHPI. Crude mortality rates per 100,000 children 15-19 years old were 51.3 for NHW, 22.4 for aggregated AANHPI, and 52.2 for NHPI. Across all age groups, mortality rates were lower across all Asian American subgroups except for NHPI. Foreign born children generally had higher mortality rates than native born children for all disaggregated Asian American infants except for NHPI.

Conclusion(s): The results demonstrate the importance of observing trends in pediatric leading causes of death across disaggregated AANHPI groups and stratified by factors like nativity. Addressing this gap is crucial for developing strategies that target the unique health challenges faced by this rapidly growing population.