Latina self-reported mental health and delay in health care in a new Latino destination.
Understanding how depression and/or anxiety affects use of health care among Latinas in rapidly growing new Latino destinations, population where the growth rate of the Latino population exceeds the national average, may enhance community engagement efforts. Using community-based participatory research, a questionnaire assessing health care use was administered to 289 Latinas. Most (70%) reported delaying healthcare, and self-reported depression/anxiety was associated with a 3.1 fold (95% CI: 1.6-5.9) increase in delay, after adjusting for current health status, acculturation, age, education, and place of birth. Mental health disparities exist among Latinas, which are related to delays in use of health care. A gap exists regarding health education interventions for Latinas. More research is needed to identify successful models, especially in new Latino destinations as they may be particularly vulnerable to delay care.
Department of Health Policy, Management, & Behavior, University at Albany School of Public Health, Rensselaer, New York 12144, USA. jjurkowski@albany.edu
Janine M
JM
Jurkowski
Emily Leckman
EL
Westin
Jose
J
Rossy-Millan
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology*; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006266:Health Education; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012650:Self Disclosure; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology