Consumer Health Information for Asians (CHIA): a collaborative project.

According to the 2000 United States Census, the Asian population in Houston, Texas, has increased more than 67% in the last ten years. To supplement an already active consumer health information program, the staff of the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library worked with community partners to bring health information to predominantly Asian neighborhoods. Brochures on health topics of concern to the Asian community were translated and placed in eight informational kiosks in Asian centers such as temples and an Asian grocery store. A press conference and a ribbon cutting ceremony were held to debut the kiosks and to introduce the Consumer Health Information for Asians (CHIA) program. Project goals for the future include digitizing the translated brochures, mounting them on the Houston HealthWays Website, and developing touch-screen kiosks. The CHIA group is investigating adding health resources in other Asian languages, as well as Spanish. Funding for this project has come from outside sources rather than from the regular library budget.

Risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in Mexican Americans in Starr County, Texas

The prevalence of diabetes in Mexican Americans is disproportionately higher than in non-Hispanic whites. The rate of diabetic retinopathy resulting from prolonged diabetes is also greater in Mexican Americans than in non-Hispanic whites. A longitudinal study was carried out on data collected from Mexican Americans in Starr County, Texas to assess the association between socioeconomic and acculturation factors with diabetic retinopathy prevalence, incidence, and progression in those free of diabetic retinopathy or who had only early non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. A multivariable analysis was done. ^ The incidence rate was 12.78 cases per year and the progression rate was 8.55 cases per year. The baseline characteristics of the population revealed that more people with occupations synonymous with lower income jobs like trade workers and machine operators had early non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. A multivariable analysis revealed that those with early non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy were more likely to have been born in Mexico as compared to those free of diabetic retinopathy. Surprisingly, a multivariable analysis also showed that those that progressed in diabetic retinopathy disease status were more likely to have been employed as compared to those that did not. ^ This analysis reveals that Mexican Americans are heterogeneous in socioeconomic and acculturation factors that may be used to deter the incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy severity. These findings could be targeted to create culturally sensitive intervention programs that will improve the detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy in the work arena in addition to programs that will impact those that do not work. Workplace preventative health screenings and dissemination of language-specific informational brochures is warranted to curb the rates of progression in those employed. ^ A limitation of this study is the narrow surrogates used for assessing socioeconomic and acculturation status. To fully evaluate these variables, a study using a questionnaire with a multitude of surrogates for socioeconomic and acculturation factors should be employed.^