Chapter 3, Problem 103P

Are these proportions prevalence rates, incidence rates, or neither? Do the results in this problem give insight into why the Hispanic paradox occurs (do Hispanic men truly have lower risk of CHD as government surveys would indicate)? Why or why not? Given other surveys over the same time period among NHW in these counties, the researchers expected that the comparable rate of CHD for NHW would be 8%.

Another important parameter in the epidemiology of CHD is the case-fatality rate (the proportion of people who die among those who have a heart attack). Among the 100 CHD cases ascertained among Hispanics, 50 were fatal.

3.102 What is the expected proportion of Hispanic men who will be identified by health surveys as having a previous heart attack in the past 5 years (who are by definition survivors) if we assume that the proportion of men with more than one nonfatal heart attack is negligible? What is the comparable proportion for NHW men if the expected case-fatality rate is 20% among NHW men with CHD?