A pilot study assessing the health status of the Hispanic American community living in Vancouver.
We undertook a pilot study in order to obtain baseline health information on the Hispanic American Community in Vancouver and to evaluate the feasibility of research in this community. We used the Interviewer Administered Questionnaire and the Lifestyle and Your Health Questionnaire from the Canada Health Survey [CHS]. Questionnaires were translated into Spanish and back into English. Descriptive analyses were similar to the CHS and focussed on health services utilization, lifestyle practices and psychological parameters. 43.3% of males and 12% of females did not have any medical consultation in the previous 12 months; 100% of respondents stated that high cost did not allow regular dental care; 23.3% of males and 28.6% of females experienced anxiety and depression; 26.2% of females did not known how to do breast self-examination. Significant potential health problems exist in this community particularly related to stress, lack of preventive behaviour and low utilization rates. Further research in this community is possible, but hampered primarily by a reluctance to participate because of concerns regarding privacy and immigration status.
Palacios
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C
Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Sheps
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001955:British Columbia; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects