New research untangles Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban-American subgroups from overall alcohol use data about Hispanics.
The study indicates that the risk of alcohol abuse and dependence can vary significantly among these different subgroups.
Using pre-existing national data that looked at the incident rate of alcohol use disorders over a period of time, Carlos F. Ríos-Bedoya of Michigan State University reports that the annual incidence rate isn’t the same among all Hispanics and prevention efforts shouldn’t be the same either.
“The problem is major lifestyle and migration differences among these subgroups aren’t taken into account in most of the survey data that’s been collected,” says Ríos-Bedoya, an assistant professor in the College of Human Medicine. “The result is an inaccurate picture of this population.”
