title: Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The use of physicians is more common than of behavioral specialists, especially in underserved Asian American communities. Despite a rapidly aging Asian American population, research has overlooked older people. This study examines the way mental health need affects the number of physician contacts by older Asian Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study uses data on self-identified Asian Americans aged over age 50 years derived from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. A total of 1191 Asian Americans from Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese backgrounds were studied. Replicate weights were applied to account for the survey's complex sampling methods. Linear regression was used to identify the number of physician contacts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, respondents had seen a doctor an average of five times in the previous 12 months; 7% perceived that they had a mental health need. Perceiving a mental health need was associated with a decreased number of physician contacts for Filipino and Korean Americans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed interethnic differences among older Asian Americans' contact with physicians. As older Filipino and Korean Americans who perceive a mental health need have fewer contacts with their physician, correctly identifying mental health needs in the health care system for these groups is crucial. Health and mental health professionals can work toward reducing mental health disparities by accounting for older Asian Americans' help-seeking patterns when designing evidence-based interventions.
authors.affiliation: Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA. duy.nguyen@nyu.edu
authors.forename: Duy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian; D002140:California; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*