Mental and Behavioral Health - Hispanics - The Office of Minority Health

Mental and Behavioral Health

Mental and Behavioral Health - Hispanics

The death rate from suicide for Hispanic men was four times the rate for Hispanic women, in 2018.
However, the suicide rate for Hispanics is less than half that of the non-Hispanic white population.
In 2019, suicide was the second leading cause of death for Hispanics, ages 15 to 34.¹
Suicide attempts for Hispanic girls, grades 9-12, were 30 percent higher than for non-Hispanic white girls in the same age group, in 2019.
In 2018, Hispanics were 50 percent less likely to have received mental health treatment as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Poverty level affects mental health status. Hispanics living below the poverty level, as compared to Hispanics over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report serious psychological distress.

MENTAL HEALTH STATUS

Serious psychological distress in the past year among adults 18 years of age and over, percentage, 2019
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
12.2	12.7	1.0

SAMHSA, 2020. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 10.43B

Serious psychological distress in the past 30 days among adults 18 years of age and over, percentage of poverty level, 2015-2016*
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Below 100%	6.8	12.1	0.6
100% - less than 200%	4.1	7.6	0.5
200% - less than 400%	2.6	3.1	0.8

Source: CDC, 2018. Health United States, 2019. Table 46.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17.pdf [PDF | 10.22MB]

Percentage of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort, all or most of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Sadness	4.2	2.6	1.6
Hopelessness	3.4	2.2	1.5
Worthlessness	2.6	2.3	1.1
Everything is an effort	7.5	6.6	1.1

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-7.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Percentage of population with serious psychological distress among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	3.5	2.8	1.3
Women	5.5	4.8	1.1
Total	4.6	3.8	1.1

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-8.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

DEATH RATES

Age-adjusted death rates for suicide, by sex, race and Hispanic origin, 2018
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	12.1	28.6	0.4
Female	2.8	8.0	0.4
Total	7.4	18.1	0.4

Source: CDC 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 69, No. 13. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/nvsr69-13-508.pdf [PDF | 2MB]

Death rates for suicide, age, race and Hispanic origin, 2018: Men
	Hispanic Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15-24 years	16.2	27.3	0.6
25-44 years	15.8	35.8	0.4
45-64 years	14.0	39.5	0.4
65 years and over	15.0	38.2	0.4
All ages	12.1	28.6	0.4

Source: CDC, 2021. Health United States, 2019. Table 9.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2019/009-508.pdf

Death rates for suicide, age, race and Hispanic origin, 2018: Women
	Hispanic Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15-24 years	4.1	6.7	0.6
25-44 years	4.4	10.4	0.4
45-64 years	3.2	13.0	0.2
65 years and over	1.6	6.3	0.3
All ages	2.8	8.0	0.4

Source: CDC, 2021. Health United States, 2019. Table 9.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2019/009-508.pdf [PDF | 10.22MB]

ADOLESCENTS

Death rates for suicide: Ages 15 - 19, 2019
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	11.6	18.3	0.6
Female	3.6	5.7	0.6
Total	7.6	12.2	0.6

Source: CDC, 2021. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Accessed 04/21/2021]
https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

Suicidal ideation among students in grades 9–12, 2018 Percentage of students who seriously considered suicide
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	11.4	13.8	0.8
Women	22.7	24.3	0.8
Total	17.2	19.1	0.9

Source: CDC 2021. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. [Accessed 04/21/2021]
https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline.

Suicidal ideation among students in grades 9–12, 2018 Percentage of students who attempted suicide
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	5.5	6.4	0.9
Women	11.9	9.4	1.3
Total	8.9	7.9	1.1

Source: CDC 2021. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. [Accessed 04/21/2021]
https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline.

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

Percentage of adults age 18 and over who received mental health services in the past year, 2019
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Total	9.7	19.8	0.5

SAMHSA, 2020. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 8.17B
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2019-nsduh-detailed-tables

Percentage of Adults age 18 and over who received prescription medications for mental health services, 2019
	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Total	7.3	16.6	0.4

SAMHSA, 2020. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 8.37B
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2019-nsduh-detailed-tables

Percentage of adults age 18 and over with past year major depressive episode who received treatment for the depression, 2019
Hispanic	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
58.0	70.2	0.8

SAMHSA, 2020. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 8.39B
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2019-nsduh-detailed-tables

* NOTE: This is the most recent national data that is available at this time.

¹CDC. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). [Accessed 04/21/2021]. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

Last Modified: 5/20/2021 9:28:00 AM

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