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Asian American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA)

Researchers at the Center for Research on Minority Health (CRMH) at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have completed the first phase of the Asian American Health Needs Assessment project by conducting the first-ever comprehensive telephone survey to assess the health issues of Chinese and Vietnamese populations in Houston and surrounding areas.

The telephone survey was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System used by the Texas State Department of Health Services to periodically collect data on the health of Texans. The CRMH contracted with a San Francisco-based research company with extensive experience in working with the Asian community to call randomly selected households in Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria and Galveston counties. Data collection began on July 6, 2004, and was completed over a period of nine weeks.

Because of language and cultural barriers, Asian Americans are often unable to access health education and health care services. The survey, part of a larger project called the Asian American Health Needs Assessment, or AsANA, was conducted in Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin and English. During the data collection phase, interviewers made approximately 8000 calls to 4,097 telephone numbers in the Chinese and Vietnamese community. Of the 1,808 randomly selected Chinese and Vietnamese contacted, 814 individuals (402 Chinese, 412 Vietnamese) completed the survey. "Results of this survey will add significantly to the knowledge about Asian health risks in Houston, in Texas and throughout the U. S.," said Lovell A. Jones, Ph.D., director of the Center for Research on Minority Health at M. D. Anderson. "This will enhance efforts to address health disparities in this population."

The U. S. Census reports that Texas has the fourth largest population of Asian Americans in the United States, and Asian Americans are among the fastest-growing racial groups in the state. The Asian American community in Texas comprises more than 60 separate racial and ethnic subgroups who speak more than 30 different languages. Unfortunately, "limited data exists specific to Asian Americans in Texas," says Beverly J. Gor, Ed.D., lead project investigator for the AsANA study at the CRMH. "Results of the survey will identify pressing health risks and provide the data needed for designing culturally-sensitive health programs in this community."

Researchers are analyzing the data from the study to understand and describe the health needs, risks and practices of these populations. The large data set will provide both quantitative and qualitative health information about these two Asian communities. "This is an important step in improving the health of Asians in Houston," said former Houston City Council member Gordon Quan. "The results will benefit Houstonians now and in the future."

A community report highlighting the most common health risk factors for Chinese and Vietnamese in Houston has been released and is available for download (pdf). It is entitled Health Issues of Chinese and Vietnamese in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area: Selected health indicators from the Asian-American Health Needs Assessment (AsANA). Hard copy is available upon request.

Dr. Beverly Gor and Mr. Son Hoang have presented some of the findings of the AsANA study at local and national conferences and meetings. Below are links to poster presentations (pdf) that provide additional details in the development of the AsANA study. 

For more information on the AsANA project, please revisit this website as information about this and other projects will be updated frequently or call 713-563-2726.


© 2009 The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center