Archives of Internal Medicine
Volume 167, Issue 21, 2007, Pages 2354-2360

Health care access, use of services, and experiences among undocumented Mexicans and other latinos (Article) (Open Access)

Ortega A.N.* , Fang H. , Perez V.H. , Rizzo J.A. , Carter-Pokras O. , Wallace S.P. , Gelberg L.
  • a Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, United States
  • b Department of Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, United States
  • c Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • d Departments of Preventive Medicine and Economics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States
  • e Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
  • f Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • g Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Background: We compared access to health care, use of services, and health care experiences for Mexicans and other Latinos by citizenship and immigrant authorization status. Methods: We acquired data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey, with 42 044 participants representative of noninstitutionalized households. Participants were differentiated by ethnicity/race, national origin, and citizenship/immigration authorization status. Outcome measures included having a usual source of care, problems in obtaining necessary care, use of physician and emergency department care, and 3 experiences with health care. Multivariate analyses measured the associations of citizenship/immigration authorization status with the outcome measures among foreign-born Mexicans and other Latinos vs their US-born counterparts. Results: In multivariate analyses, undocumented Mexicans had 1.6 fewer physician visits (P<.01); compared with US-born Mexicans; other undocumented Latinos had 2.1 fewer visits (P<.01) compared with their US-born counterparts. Both undocumented groups were less likely to report difficulty obtaining necessary health care than US-born Mexicans (odds ratio, 0.68; P<.01) and other US-born Latinos (odds ratio, 0.40; P<.01), respectively. Undocumented Mexicans were less likely to have a usual source of care (odds ratio, 0.70; P<.01) and were more likely to report negative experiences than US-born Mexicans (odds ratio, 1.93; P<.01). Findings were similar for other undocumented Latinos, with the exception of having a usual source of care. Patterns of access to and use of health care services tended to improve with changing legal status. Conclusion: In this large sample, undocumented Mexicans and other undocumented Latinos reported less use of health care services and poorer experiences with care compared with their US-born counterparts, after adjustment for confounders in multivariate analyses. ©2007 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

Health Care Surveys immigration human middle aged health service controlled study priority journal Aged Logistic Models Mexico Hispanic Americans Humans ethnic difference Hispanic Adolescent California male female Multivariate Analysis health services Article adult health care access Office Visits Health Services Accessibility
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-36549083562&doi=10.1001%2farchinte.167.21.2354&partnerID=40&md5=41f5883f449bf266e6e1076d4bf17e80
DOI: 10.1001/archinte.167.21.2354
ISSN: 00039926
Cited by: 203
Original Language: English