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1. Suicides Soar Among New York Koreans' DISPARITIES IN RESEARCH 6. Cultural Competency Training and Performance Reports to Improve Diabetes Care for Black Patients DISPARITIES DATA SPOTLIGHT DISPARITIES IN THE NEWS 1. Suicides Soar Among New York Koreans The Korean Consulate General reported a doubling of suicides this year among Koreans in the New York area, the New York Times reports. "The number of suicides reported to the local Korean Consulate General has more than doubled this year, to 15 from 6 last year." The consul general believed that the actual number of suicides by Korean citizens might be more than twice as high. Korean civic leaders and officials say that financial troubles have been the leading force behind the increase. Some community groups have organized suicide prevention seminars (Semple, 12/31) 2. Teaching Black Women To Embrace Breast-Feeding "American mothers as a whole do not breast-feed their babies as much as health experts would like, but African-American moms have the lowest rates of all—by some measures, they are half as likely to nurse as whites and Hispanics," NPR reports. Though national breast-feeding rates have been rising for African Americans over the past few years—"a study last year found that the number initiating breast-feeding had jumped from 36 percent in 1993-1994 to 65 percent in 2005-2006"—rates still lag far behind whites and Hispanics. "The federal government, some hospitals and nonprofits are trying different strategies to close this nursing gap, though no one seems sure exactly why the disparity exists" (Ludden, 12/23). 3. Melanoma Less Common in Blacks But Deadlier According to a study in the journal Archives of Dermatology, while more whites are being diagnosed with melanoma, Hispanics and blacks are much less likely to be diagnosed, but often have more advanced forms of the cancer when found, HealthDay News reports. Researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine examined 41,072 cases of melanoma between 1990 and 2004 from the Florida Cancer Data System. While almost all—39,670—were in non-Hispanic whites, with 1,148 in white Hispanics and 254 in blacks, Hispanic and black patients, however, had more advanced cases of melanoma, the study authors found. "Eighteen percent of Hispanics and 26 percent of blacks had the most advanced cases, compared to 12 percent among non-Hispanic whites." In a commentary accompanying the study, the authors noted that "This study adds to a growing body of literature that identifies a pervasive and persistent disparity in the stage of melanoma diagnosis between Hispanic and blacks patients versus white patients" (Dotinga, 12/23). 4. After Lumpectomy, Radiation Rates Lower for Black Women According to a study in Cancer, older white women with invasive breast cancer were more likely to receive radiotherapy following surgery than black women, HealthDay News reports. Researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center analyzed data from more than 37,000 women 66 years and older in a national Medicare database who were treated with breast-conserving surgery for incident invasive breast cancer in 2003. The researchers found that, following surgery, 74 percent of white women compared to 65 percent of black women received radiation therapy following lumpectomy. "Until further research is conducted, we may only speculate about the underlying reasons why black and white women are not receiving radiation at the same rate," lead author of the study, Dr. Grace Li Smith said (Dotinga, 12/14). 5. Black Women May Need Different Mammogram Guidelines "Many African-American women don't fit the profile of the average American woman who gets breast cancer. For them, putting off the first mammogram until 50—as recommended by a government task force—could put their life in danger," NPR reports. Lovell Jones, director of the Center for Research on Minority health at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, says that "while the recommendations may be appropriate for the general population, he says, it could have a deleterious affect on African American women who appear to have a higher risk of developing very deadly breast cancers at early in life." Statistics show that "[b]eginning in their 20s, into their 50s, black women are twice as likely to die of breast cancer as white women who have breast cancer," and some studies suggest that "African-American women aren't getting screened for breast cancer as often as white women and when they do it is later in life…There are also questions about the care that African-American women are receiving, whether they are referred to cancer specialists in a timely way, and understand that they will need therapy after surgery. With all the issues surrounding black women and breast cancer, health professionals argue there should be separate guidelines for African-American women" (Wilson, 12/7). RESEARCH 6. Cultural Competency Training and Performance Reports to Improve Diabetes Care for Black Patients In a study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers find that while the combination of cultural competency training and race-stratified performance feedback increased physician awareness of racial disparities in diabetes care, it did not improve clinical outcomes for black diabetes patients. Studying 124 primary care clinicians—some of whom had received cultural competency training—who cared for 2699 (36%) black and 4858 (64%) white patients with diabetes, the authors found that clinicians who had received training were "more likely than those in the control group to acknowledge the presence of racial disparities." These improvements, however, were "not accompanied by improvement in diabetes outcomes for black patients." "Future studies should focus on methods to build on this increased clinician awareness, possibly through programs that engage patients and the community in more effective management of diabetes and incorporate the skills of other allied health professionals, including nurses, pharmacists, and nutritionists," the authors conclude (Sequist, TD, et al. 2010. "Cultural Competency Training and Performance Reports to Improve Diabetes Care for Black Patients," Annals of Internal Medicine. 152(1): 40-46). 7. Racial Disparities in the Quality of Medication Use in Older Adults: Baseline Findings from a Longitudinal Study A new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine finds that elderly blacks Americans use fewer medications than whites and are more likely to skip taking their medicines. Conducting in-home interviews and medical record reviews of 200 older adults, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that, while all patients had at least one medication-related problem, and whites used more medications than blacks, (11.6 vs. 9.7), blacks had more medication-related problems per person than whites (6.2 vs. 9.4) including significantly higher rates of nonadherence than whites (68 percent vs. 42 percent). The researchers noted that "these findings required further study to better understand racial disparities in quality medication use" (Roth, MT, et al. 2009. "Racial Disparities in the Quality of Medication Use in Older Adults: Baseline Findings from a Longitudinal Study," Journal of General Internal Medicine. Epub ahead of print).
NOTES: Individuals who reported more than one race group were categorized as "two or more races." Nonelderly includes individuals under age 65. FPL= Federal Poverty Level. The FPL for a family of four in 2008 was $22,025. In 2008, over half of Hispanics, African Americans, and American Indians and Alaska Natives were poor or near poor compared with 27% of Whites and 31% of Asians. Read more from the report, The Role of Health Coverage for Communities of Color.
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This free, monthly update synthesizes news coverage from hundreds ofprintand broadcast news sources related to health and health care issues affecting underserved and racial and ethnic communities. 
