Disentangling the influence of socioeconomic status on differences between African American and white women in unmet medical needs.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to disentangle the relationships between race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and unmet medical care needs.


METHODS
Data from the 2003-2004 Community Tracking Study Household Survey were used to examine associations between unmet medical needs and SES among African American and White women.


RESULTS
No significant racial/ethnic differences in unmet medical needs (24.8% of Whites, 25.9% of African Americans; P = .59) were detected in bivariate analyses. However, among women with 12 years of education or less, African Americans were less likely than were Whites to report unmet needs (odds ratio [OR] = 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.42, 0.79). Relative to African American women with 12 years of education or less, the odds of unmet needs were 1.69 (95% CI = 1.24, 2.31) and 2.18 (95% CI = 1.25, 3.82) among African American women with 13 to 15 years of education and 16 years of education or more, respectively. In contrast, the relationship between educational level and unmet needs was nonsignificant among White women.


CONCLUSIONS
Among African American women, the failure to recognize unmet medical needs is related to educational attainment and may be an important driver of health disparities, representing a fruitful area for future interventions.
Wiltshire
Jacqueline C
JC
Institute of Public Health, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA. jacqueline.wiltshire@famu.edu
Person
Sharina D
SD
Kiefe
Catarina I
CI
Allison
Jeroan J
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult