Disparities by ethnicity, language, and immigrant status in occupational health experiences among Las Vegas hotel room cleaners.
OBJECTIVE
We examined disparities in workers' occupational health experiences.


METHODS
We surveyed 941 unionized Las Vegas hotel room cleaners about their experiences with work-related pain and with employers, physicians, and workers' compensation. Data were analyzed for all workers and by ethnicity, language, and immigrant status.


RESULTS
Hispanic and English as second language (ESL) workers were more likely than their counterparts to report work-related pain and, along with immigrant workers, to miss work because of this pain. Hispanic, ESL, and immigrant workers were not consistently at a disadvantage with regard to their own responses to work-related pain but were so with respect to reported responses by workers' compensation, physicians, and employers.


CONCLUSIONS
There are indications of disparities in occupational health experiences within this job title. The use of different group classifications, while implying different mechanisms, produced similar results.
Premji
Stéphanie
S
Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, Richmond, 94804, USA. stephaniepremji@yahoo.com
Krause
Niklas
N
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006796:Household Work; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009505:Nevada / Q000208:ethnology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D010146:Pain / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000191:economics; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000208:ethnology*; D055815:Young Adult