Barriers to Medical Care of Mexican-Americans: The Role of Social Class, Acculturation, and Social Isolation

Literature on medical care utilization by Mexican-Americans suggests that patterns of utilization can be explained, in part, by acculturation, social class and social isolation. The relative importance of these variables is explored in a survey of a rural Mexican-American community in Southern Texas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical care 1982-09, Vol.20 (9), p.883-891
Main Authors: Chesney, Alan P., Chavira, Juan A., Hall, Rogers P., Gary, Howard E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Adult
Communities
Cultural Deprivation
Data Collection
Demography
Dwellings
Female
Health care utilization
Health Services
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Male
Mexican American education
Mexico - ethnology
Middle Aged
Patient care
Random Allocation
Social Class
Social classes
Social Isolation
Symptoms
Texas
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Summary:Literature on medical care utilization by Mexican-Americans suggests that patterns of utilization can be explained, in part, by acculturation, social class and social isolation. The relative importance of these variables is explored in a survey of a rural Mexican-American community in Southern Texas. Data on 152 families are analyzed using a logit analysis, with utilization as the outcome variable. The results suggest that acculturation has a direct effect, while social class and social isolation interact to have a weak effect independent of acculturation. These results confirm the importance of understanding all three variables in planning and implementing medical care programs in Mexican-American communities.
ISSN:0025-7079
1537-1948
DOI:10.1097/00005650-198209000-00002