Research Article
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Health care disparities and language use at home among latino, asian american, and american indian adolescents: Findings from the california health interview survey†
Hyeouk Chris Hahm,
Maureen Lahiff, Rose M. Barreto, Sunny Shin, Wan-Yi Chen,
Corresponding Author
Hyeouk Chris Hahm
Boston University
School of Social Work, Boston University, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215Search for more papers by this authorHyeouk Chris Hahm,
Maureen Lahiff, Rose M. Barreto, Sunny Shin, Wan-Yi Chen,
Corresponding Author
Hyeouk Chris Hahm
Boston University
School of Social Work, Boston University, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215Search for more papers by this author†
An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, Boston, Massachusetts, November 4–8, 2006.
Abstract
Using the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, this study compared health status, medical insurance, and having a usual source of care for 2,230 ethnic minority adolescents based on language use at home: Group 1, English only; Group 2, both English and another language; and Group 3, exclusively another language. Adjusting for demographic variables, adolescents in Group 3 were more likely to report fair or poor health (OR=2.37, p=.012) and to not have medical insurance (OR=4.61, p<.001) compared to adolescents in Group 1. Young adolescents in Group 3 were more likely to have no usual source of care (OR=4.07, p=.029). Interventions need to consider language barriers in the context of an adolescent's age. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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