Among the 3 largest Hispanic subgroups in the US, high levels of heterogeneity exist in chronic liver disease (CLD)-related mortality patterns, a new study found. Researchers investigated trends in mortality among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans in the US from 2007 to 2016, and compared age-standardized mortalities for CLD to those of non-Hispanic whites. They found:

• Hispanics were relatively younger with a lower likelihood of high school education than non-Hispanic whites at the times of death.
• Puerto Ricans had the highest rates of age-standardized hepatitis C virus-related mortality in 2016, followed by non-Hispanic whites, Mexicans, and Cubans.
• Age-standardized mortality rates associated with hepatitis B virus infection decreased steadily among all subjects.
• Age-standardized mortality rates from alcoholic liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver sides among non-Hispanic whites and all Hispanics increased.
• Mexicans has the highest rates of age-standardized alcoholic liver disease-related mortality.