title: Who Seeks Cita Con El Doctor? Twelve Years of Spanish-Language Radio Program Targeting U.S. Latinos.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Spanish-dominant Latinos make up 13% of the U.S. population, and this group is poorer and faces multiple threats to health compared with the general population. Additionally, Spanish speakers face challenges accessing health information that is often not available in Spanish. This study provides a descriptive epidemiology of a unique, low-cost health information source: the longest-running U.S.-based Spanish-language call-in radio health education program.
  
  
  METHODS
  From the universe of all calls 1999 to 2011, stratified random sampling yielded 1,237 analyzed calls, which were manually coded for caller sex, age, proxy status, and health concern. Descriptive statistics were used to examine basic demographics of callers and call topics overall and by sex and proxy caller status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among all calls, the top three call-generating health topics were specific symptoms/conditions, sexual/reproductive health, and gastrointestinal concerns. The top nine topics were consistent among women, men, and proxy callers; however, relative frequency of topics varied across groups. Nearly one quarter of calls were initiated on behalf of someone, generally a child, spouse or sibling, or parent. Sixty percent of callers were women; women made 70% of proxy calls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding the differences in information seeking behaviors, information needs, and source preferences is important for determining where and how to disseminate health information and may help explain disparities in knowledge and health outcomes. The radio talk show format provides a uniquely personal, culturally sensitive channel for meeting health information needs of a vulnerable population while leveraging the cost-effectiveness and wide reach of a mass medium.
authors.affiliation: University of California-Merced, CA, USA a.susana.ramirez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A Susana
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.affiliation: Washington University-St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Kaitlin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Graff
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kasia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Galica
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leyva
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Mateo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banegas
authors.affiliation: Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Elmer
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Huerta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011845:Radio / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Hispanic; Latino; cancer prevention; community health promotion; health communications; information seeking; mass media; media; radio