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5 12 M e d o a , Laura E. S a l d i v a r , Robert 0 . Valdez, Ricardo 0 . C a s t i l l o , Reymldo M a r t o r e l l , C a t h e r i n e Baisden (Spon. by I r i s F. L i t t ) . Stanford U n i v e r s i t y --Stanford Center f o r Chicano Research, S t a n f o r d , c a l i f The h e a l t h s t a t u s of Mexican-American c h i l d r e n (MAC) h a s been d i f f i c u l t t o a s s e s s because of t h e l a c k of d a t a about t h i s population. U t i l i z i n g t h e Hispanic Health and N u t r i t i o n Examin a t i o n Survey, 3,710 MAC, a g e s 6 mos. -18 y r s . , were evaluated a s t o t h e prevalence of c h r o n i c medical c o n d i t i o n s , and perceived h e a l t h s t a t u s a s determined by t h e p h y s i c i a n , mother, and c h i l d . The r e s u l t s demonstrated t h a t 140 s u b j e c t s , o r 3.8%, of MAC bad a t least one c h r o n i c c o n d i t i o n . There were no d i f f e r e n c e s w i t h r e s p e c t t o poverty s t a t u s . P h y s i c i a n s r a t e d c h i l d r e n ( 6 mos. -11 ~r s . ) i n poor h e a l t h only 1% of t h e time, w h i l e mothers r a t e d them i n poor h e a l t h 15% of t h e time (P c.001). The n a t i o n a l p a r e n t a l norm i s 3%. Children 6 y e a r s t o 11 y e a r s and 12 y e a r s t o 18 y e a r s r e p o r t e d poor h e a l t h 11.3% and 19% of t h e time (age 6-12 y r s . ) was n o t a s s o c i a t e d w i t h e i t h e r poverty o r c h r o n i c c o n d i t i o n . These r e s u l t s suggest t h a t MAC have prevalence r a t e s of c h r o n i c c o n d i t i o n s s i m i l a r t o t h e U.S. norms, b u t M A C a r e perceived t o be i n poorer h e a l t h by t h e i r mothers and themselves t h a 10 of o u r i n f a n t s d i e d suddenly & unexpectedly a t home o v e r a 2 y r p e r i o d i n s p i t e of t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f a c a r d i o r e s p i r a t o r y monitor (M). Reasons f o r moni t o r i n g were: apparent l i f e -t h r e a t e n i n g events (ALTE) ( 3 ) , bronchopulmonary d y s p l a s i a (BPD) ( 3 ) , s i b l i n g s o f SIDS v i c t i m s ( 2 ) , prematurity w i t h o t h e r r i s k f a c t o r s ( 2 ) . Death was a s s o c i a t e d was g r e a t e r (P<.05, one t a i l ) than i n a c o n t r o l group of a l l 211 new p a t i e n t s s t a r t e d / c o n t i n u e d on M over a 6m p e r i o d . These cont r o l s d i d n o t d i e suddenly & unexpectedly up t o >1 y r of age. The t a b l e d i s p l a y s demographics of t h e 2 groups. Male--Black Unmarried b m Medicaid Deaths (D) 8(80%)** 7(70)* 8(80)* 8(80)** Controls 107(51%) 72 (34) 90(43) 103(49) *PC.05, one t a i l ; **P<.07, one t a i l . The demographics of t h e D a r e s i m i l a r t o t h o s e o f SIDS v i c t i m s i n g e n e r a l , b u t i n an exaggerated sense. For example, males gene r a l l y c o n s t i t u t e 60% of SIDS v i c t i m s , whereas they c o n s t i t u t e 80% of t h e s e D. These c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and t h e diagnoses ALTE & BPD d e f i n e i n f a n t s a t i n c r e a s e d r i ...