Health competence as predictor of access to care among Latinos in Baltimore.
The goal of this study is to identify the underlying structure of Health Competence and its value as a predictor of access to care among the Latino population in Baltimore, Maryland. Data on a cross-sectional urban probability sample were collected from 330 foreign-born Latino men and women aged 21-75 years residing in Baltimore at the time of the survey. Principal components analysis yielded a two-component solution: the first component comprised "factors enabling" access to care; the second, "perceived barriers". When testing the predictive power of the Health Competence construct using model building and the log likelihood criteria the "enabling factors" added significantly (P < .005) to the power of the socio-demographic variables to predict access to care, making it an important tool for programs aiming to improve US Latinos' health.
Fonseca-Becker
Fannie
F
Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA. ffonseca@jhsph.edu
Perez-Patron
Maria J
MJ
Munoz
Beatriz
B
O'Leary
Michael
M
Rosario
Evelyn
E
West
Sheila K
SK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015142:Baltimore; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011287:Prejudice; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult