title: Racial/Ethnic Differences in Those Accompanying Medicare Patients to the Doctor: Insights from the 2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary's Survey.
abstract: Surprisingly little current, population-level detail exists regarding companion accompaniment for health care among Medicare beneficiaries, particularly by race/ethnicity. For respondents in the 2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary's Survey Access to Care public use data (N = 12,253), multivariable models predicted accompaniment to the doctor by race/ethnicity, adjusting for confounders. Chi square analyses compared, by race/ethnicity, who was accompanying and why. Overall, 37.5% of beneficiaries had accompaniment. In multivariable analyses, non-Hispanic blacks (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.03-1.36) and Hispanics (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.25-1.74) were significantly more likely than non-Hispanic whites to have accompaniment. Over 35% of all three groups had someone to "take notes," "ask questions," and/or "explain things," which did not vary by race/ethnicity; significant differences were seen for "explain instructions," "translate," and "moral support." Hispanics had the highest percentages for all three. Many Medicare beneficiaries have accompaniment to doctors' appointments, particularly in minority racial/ethnic groups, which should be considered in policy and practice.
authors.affiliation: Office of Public Health Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 1960 East-West Road, Biomed D104-G, Honolulu, HI, 96821, USA. tsentell@hawaii.edu.
authors.forename: Tetine Lynn
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3548-1281
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Sentell
authors.affiliation: Section on Biomarkers and Prediction Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Chengli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Section on Biomarkers and Prediction Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Doug
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Landsittel
authors.affiliation: Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortium, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, PR, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Helen
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Mays
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Southerland
authors.affiliation: Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Marshaleen Henriques
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Hilo, HI, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Taira
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Caregiving; Health communication; Medicare; Race/ethnicity