C. Annette DuBard ^1* Ziya Gizlice ²

¹ University of North Carolina Sheps Center for Health Services Research
² University of North Carolina Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: adubard{at}schsr.unc.edu.

	Abstract

Objectives. We examined self-reported health status, health behaviors, access to care, and use of preventive services of the US Hispanic adult population to identify language-associated disparities.

Methods. We analyzed 2003 to 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 45076 Hispanic adults in 23 states, who represented 90% of the US Hispanic population, and compared 25 health indicators between Spanish-speaking Hispanics and English-speaking Hispanics.

Results. Physical activity and rates of chronic disease, obesity, and smoking were significantly lower among Spanish-speaking Hispanics than among English-speaking Hispanics. Spanish-speaking Hispanics reported far worse health status and access to care than did English-speaking Hispanics (39% vs 17% in fair or poor health, 55% vs 23% uninsured, and 58% vs 29% without a personal doctor) and received less preventive care. Adjustment for demographic and socioeconomic factors did not mitigate the influence of language on these health indicators.

Conclusions. Spanish-language preference marks a particularly vulnerable subpopulation of US Hispanics who have less access to care and use of preventive services. Priority areas for Spanish-speaking adults include maintenance of healthy behaviors, promotion of physical activity and preventive health care, and increased access to care.

Key Words: Access to Care, Prevention, Hispanics/Latinos, Surveillance

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. C. Diamond and D. S. Reuland Describing Physician Language Fluency: Deconstructing Medical Spanish JAMA, January 28, 2009; 301(4): 426 - 428. [Full Text] [PDF]