Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
Volume 19, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 428-441

Social support and dental utilization among children of latina immigrants (Article)

Nahouraii H. , Wassermar M.* , Bender D.E. , Rozier R.G.
  • a Jacobi Medical Center, New York, United States
  • b Abt Associates, Brown University, Taubman Center for Public Policy, Abt Associates, Inc., 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138-1168, United States
  • c Department of Health Policy and Administration, UNC School of Public Health
  • d Department of Health Policy and Administration, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health

Abstract

Latino children use fewer professional dental services and experience more dental decay than non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black children. This study tested the association between four types of social support (information, influence, material aid, emotional aid) and dental use among children of Latina immigrants in North Carolina. Latina mothers age 15-44 years (N=174) were sampled from four counties using a multistage church-based sampling design. Each mother reported dental care use for her oldest child younger than 11 years of age. Instrumental aid (information) alone was not associated with dental care use, but receiving any of the other types of social support was associated with dental care use at the bivariate level (p<.01) and at the multivariate level (OR = 3.13; 95% CI = 1.67-5.87). Over half of the women (65.2%) received at least one of these forms of social support. Interventions expanding dental-related social support could help Latina immigrant mothers overcome barriers to dental care for their children.

Author Keywords

Latino Social support Women Children Emigration Hispanic Americans Immigration Dental care

Index Keywords

human social support Dental Health Services Hispanic Americans Dental Care Humans Hispanic Adolescent Emigrants and Immigrants preschool child Socioeconomic Factors Infant Child, Preschool female socioeconomics Mothers Article adult mother migration Utilization Review Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-43949110994&doi=10.1353%2fhpu.0.0017&partnerID=40&md5=73df114b55c5a73a0d307db79622d8f4
DOI: 10.1353/hpu.0.0017
ISSN: 10492089
Cited by: 14
Original Language: English