ABSTRACT
This study examines the role of spoken language in access to health care for Hispanic adults. Analyzing the associations between personal characteristics and the use of Spanish as opposed to English reveals that monolingual Spanish speakers were more likely than others to be older, less educated, in poor health, uninsured, and in poverty. Further, Spanish speakers were less likely than English-speaking Hispanics to have a usual source of health care. Persons with no usual source of care were least likely to have seen a physician or to have had their blood pressure checked, whereas those with a regular doctor appeared to have the greatest access. The authors conclude that, whereas language is certainly associated with many barriers to health care, both economic well-being and having a usual source of care are of paramount importance for the Hispanic American population.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Communication Barriers , Health Services Accessibility/statistics & numerical data , Hispanic or Latino/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cuba/ethnology , Female , Humans , Insurance, Health/statistics & numerical data , Language , Male , Mexico/ethnology , Middle Aged , Puerto Rico/ethnology , Socioeconomic Factors , United StatesABSTRACT
This paper presents trends in the growth in the US uninsured population, using cross-sectional national estimates from 1977, 1987, 1989, and 1992 and focusing specifically on coverage problems experienced by Hispanic Americans. An examination of the composition of uninsured persons added between 1977 and 1992 shows that almost 40% of the difference is accounted for by persons of Hispanic origin, with those of Mexican origin alone constituting 27%. In addition, the annual average rate of growth in the uninsured Hispanic population between 1977 and 1992 was 9.7%, compared with only 2.3% for the uninsured non-Hispanic population.
Subject(s)
Hispanic or Latino/statistics & numerical data , Medically Uninsured/ethnology , Medically Uninsured/statistics & numerical data , Population Growth , Black or African American/statistics & numerical data , Cross-Sectional Studies , Cuba/ethnology , Health Surveys , Humans , Mexico/ethnology , Puerto Rico/ethnology , United States , White People/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to assess the relative effects of financial and cultural factors, namely language spoken, on health care use by Hispanic adults. Using a national sample, we examine the determinants of having a usual source of care (USOC), use of physician visits, and likelihood of having blood pressure checked. Multivariate analysis reveals the following: Monolingual Spanish speakers were not significantly different from English speakers for the three dependent variables; having private insurance or Medicaid was positively related to all three dependent variables. We conclude that financial factors--primarily insurance--remain as the paramount barriers to care.