The study should help to explain whether the "Hispanic paradox" is an artifact of underascertainment of deaths in this group. The "Hispanic paradox" refers to the concept that all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality are widely thought to be lower in Hispanics, including Mexican Americans, than in non-Hispanic whites in the United States. Preliminary mortality data from this study suggest that all-cause mortality is actually higher in Mexican Americans than in non-Hispanic whites in San Antonio.