Male preventive health behaviors: perceptions from men, women, and clinical staff along the U.S. Mexico border.
Mexican American males have higher levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides, higher body mass indexes, and a higher prevalence of diabetes than do non-Hispanic White males. They are the least likely Hispanic subgroup to be insured, to have recently visited a physician, or to have preventive exams. To explore factors related to the use of preventive exams among mature men, and specifically among Mexican American men residing along the Arizona, United States/Sonora, Mexico border, information on barriers and motivating factors to male participation in preventive screening exams was collected. Interviews were conducted with mature men and women from a single border community and with clinical staff from three different border communities who deliver services to similar populations. Responses were triangulated. Common themes identified include health education/information/advertisement and female/family support as motivating factors and machismo/denial/fatalism as a barrier to male health-seeking behavior.
Hunter
Jennifer B
JB
Southwest Center for Community Health Promotion, University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Tucson, AZ 85704, USA. jhunter@coph.arizona.edu
Fernandez
Maria Lourdes
ML
Lacy-Martinez
Charles R
CR
Dunne-Sosa
Andrea M
AM
Coe
M Kathryn
MK
D000328:Adult; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination; D011314:Preventive Health Services