More Visibility of Arab Americans’ Health Issues Needed.

A group of epidemiologists, including a School of Public Health researcher, is advocating for an increased focus on the mental and physical health issues of Arab Americans in the US.

In an article published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, the group noted that there is no “checkbox” for Arab/Middle Eastern origin in medical and public health studies, and no Arab American identifier on the US Census—study elements that the research team argues should be added.

The paper was led by Boston College Connell School of Nursing Assistant Professor Nadia Abuelezam; co-authors were Dean Sandro Galea, Robert A. Knox Professor, and Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed, former director of the Detroit Health Department.

Given the current social and political climate in the US, the authors said, a better understanding of the mental and physical health needs of the Arab American population is needed.  The impact of stigma, discrimination, and stress has been studied in other populations in the US, such as African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, but not on Arab Americans, they noted.

Although there are approximately 3.7 million Arab Americans in the US, there has not been a single prospective study examining the health needs of this population, the researchers said.

The co-authors said that recent waves of immigrants from the Middle East face compounding stressors, given that many have fled areas of war or political instability. Media portrayals and foreign policies can make their acculturation more difficult than other ethnic groups.

Ensuring that Arab Americans receive improved quality of care and equal attention with other ethnic minorities requires studies to understand their needs and the long-term impact of political instability and discrimination on this population, according to the authors. Such understanding is predicated on improved identification of this group in medical and public health surveys and in the US Census.