Invisible in the data: Broad ‘Asian American’ category obscures health disparities

In medical research and public health in the United States, people with Asian ancestry are almost always grouped into a single racial category. They seem to be doing very well — better than white Americans in important categories.

But separate out subgroups of Asian Americans and outcomes are far poorer... In a 2020 study, Ninez Ponce, who directs UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research, found at least one disparity that was disguised by aggregation in every Asian subgroup she and her colleagues examined. “You cannot have health equity without data equity,” said Ponce.