Puerto Rican patients travel to Puerto Rico: assessing the effect on clinical care.
OBJECTIVE
To examine travel habits of Puerto Rican patients and assess the potential effect of this travel on their health care.


METHODS
Interview and survey of patients.


METHODS
Urban medical clinic.


METHODS
Two hundred consecutive, self-identified Puerto Rican patients presenting for follow-up care.


METHODS
Immediately prior to a follow-up office visit, patients were interviewed in either Spanish or English.


METHODS
The patients' age, sex, education level, employment status, and place of birth were recorded. The patients were asked questions concerning the principle place of residence of their family members, their ability to speak English, and their preferences in television and radio programs. Patients who had visited Puerto Rico were asked about the duration and purpose of their most recent trip and about the health care they received in Puerto Rico. Chi-square testing was applied to categorical data and t tests for continuous data; P values were calculated using the SPSS statistical analysis program.


RESULTS
Of the 200 subjects, 110 (55%) had traveled to Puerto Rico in the last five years and 90 (45%) had not. The patients who traveled were more likely to have been born in Puerto Rico, less likely to speak English, and less likely to listen to English-language programs. A majority of the patients who traveled to Puerto Rico visited for a month or less (80%) and did not experience a change in health care (78%). In comparison, however, a majority (59%) of the patients who visited for longer than a month did experience a major change in their health care status (P < .00001).


CONCLUSIONS
Puerto Rican patients, particularly those born in Puerto Rico with stronger cultural "ties" to the island, frequently return to Puerto Rico. Patients who visit for longer than a month often experience changes in care which are likely to have significant effect on their health. Clinicians caring for Puerto Rican patients should ask about upcoming visits to Puerto Rico and take steps to assure continuous and coordinated medical care.
Plant
J
J
Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, USA.
Keating
H J
HJ
D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003625:Data Collection; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D014195:Travel / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population