Racial disparities in access to health care and preventive services between Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Non-Hispanic Whites.
OBJECTIVE
Large-scale comparison and comprehensive estimate on the access to health care and preventive services between Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) has not been available. This study examines the racial disparities in access to health care and preventive services between AAPIs and NHWs in the USA.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of access to health care and preventive services among AAPIs compared to NHWs, using data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2005 to 2007 among 908,154 respondents aged > or = 18 years.


RESULTS
The percentages of AAPIs (aged > or = 18 years) who reported having a personal healthcare provider, a Pap test (women aged > or =18), a fecal occult blood test (aged > or = 50) a sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (aged > or = 50), a PSA test (men aged > or = 40), blood cholesterol checked (aged > or =18 yrs), and pneumococcal vaccination (aged > or = 65 yrs) were 76.7%, 83.1%, 27.5%, 47.5%, 35.5%, 74.2%, and 51.2%, respectively. Compared to NHWs, AAPIs were significantly less likely to have a personal health care provider (adjusted odds ratio: 0.69 [95% confidence interval: 0.63-0.75]), a Pap test (0.18 [0.13-0.28]), a fecal occult blood test (0.50 [0.39-0.631), a sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (0.64 [0.50-0.81]), a PSA test (0.35 [0.26-0.47]), blood cholesterol checked (0.71 [0.64-0.80]), and pneumococcal vaccination (0.52 [0.42-0.65]).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that disparities exist between AAPIs and NHWs in 1 of 4 selected health care access indicators and 6 of 8 selected preventive services.
Wen
Xiao-Jun
XJ
Northrop Grumman Information Technology/Business Computer Applications, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Information Technology Support, USA. tzw4@cdc.gov
Balluz
Lina
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011647:Puerto Rico; D014481:United States; D014767:United States Virgin Islands; D044465:White People