Asian American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA)

Asian American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA) Expands to Include South Asians and Filipinos

The 2010 Census indicated the Asian American population in Texas increased 71% more than any other racial/ethnic group in the state. The largest Asian ethnic groups in Harris County are Vietnamese (80,409), Asian Indian (50,045), Chinese (43,940) and Filipino (22,575). In 2004-2005, researchers at the former Center for Research on Minority Health (CRMH, now DH-CHEER) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center completed the first phase of the Asian American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA) project by conducting the first-ever comprehensive telephone survey to assess the health issues of Chinese and Vietnamese populations in Houston and surrounding areas.

In response to the rapidly growing and diverse Asian American community, the AsANA study is launching projects to assess the health and cancer needs of the South Asian and Filipino communities. Similar to the first AsANA study, the research will begin by collecting qualitative data through focus groups and key informant interviews to identify the health issues that are most important to these populations. A culturally tailored, linguistically appropriate survey instrument, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) will be developed for each population. These studies have been reviewed and approved by the MD Anderson Institutional Review Board (Protocol 2006-0828: Health and Cancer Issues in the South Asian Community, and Protocol 2009-0220: Filipino Health Needs Assessment). The Indian American Cancer Network will partner with DH-CHEER in conducting the study in the Asian Indian community. The Health Directorate of the Filipino American Council of Southeast Texas plans to work in a similar manner with researchers from DH-CHEER on the Filipino health needs assessment.

In 2006, a community report, Health Issues of Chinese and Vietnamese in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area: Selected health indicators from the Asian-American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA), was released that highlighted the most common health risk factors for the Chinese and Vietnamese in Houston. Dr. Beverly Gor and Mr. Son Hoang, co-investigators of the study, have presented findings of the AsANA study at local and national conferences and meetings. Below are links to poster presentations (pdf) and a published manuscript that provide additional details in the development of the AsANA study. Dr. Lovell A. Jones, principal investigator for the AsANA study, stated that the expansion of the study aligns with the mission of the DH-CHEER to conduct “science that benefits the community.” We hope to generate data that can address health and cancer disparities in the South Asian and Filipino communities as we did with the Chinese and Vietnamese populations.

"The results of the AsANA study in the Chinese and Vietnamese communities documented some of the health and cancer disparities faced by these communities," stated Dr. Gor. These included lack of health insurance, high rates of smoking, increasing obesity with greater acculturation, suboptimal fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity, low participation in cervical, colorectal and prostate cancer screening. Findings from the study, published in peer-reviewed journals and in a community report, were used by community organizations to apply for funding to establish programs to address these disparities. Funders have included the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), and the B-Free CEED Program at the New York University Langone Medical Center.

For more information on the AsANA project, please contact Dr. Beverly Gor at 713-563-2750 / bjgor@mdanderson.org.

Asian American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA)