School
School of Public Health
Document Type
Dissertation
Department (new version)
Public Health
Date of Award
2002
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) School of Public Health
Abstract
The Hispanic population in Alabama has rapidly increased in recent years, raising public health officials' concern about their health status and use of health care services. This study examined health services' utilization by first-generation Hispanic mothers and children in greater Birmingham. Constructs from the Health Belief Model and the Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization were integrated to form the study's theoretical framework. The cross-sectional study included a questionnaire orally administered to 227 Hispanic mothers recruited via location and snowball sampling; questions focused on mothers and their youngest child between the ages of 6 months and 5 years (an index child). The findings are presented in three separate manuscripts focusing on mothers' use of curative and preventive services, mothers' use of prenatal care, and children's use of curative and preventive services. Most mothers were originally from Mexico, undocumented, relatively recent arrivals to the United States, young, with limited education, poor English skills, a low family income, no health insurance, and little social integration into the American community. One third of mothers and one half of the index children used curative health services in the last year, and for those who had a health problem that curtailed normal activities for at least 3 and 2 days respectively, rates of health services utilization for that problem were 82% for mothers and 86% for children. More than two thirds of mothers used preventive services in the past year (a medical check-up and/or a pap test) and 57% of the index children received an adequate number of preventive visits for their age in the past year. Eighty-five percent of women who had their last pregnancy in the United States initiated prenatal care in the first trimester. Public health facilities were most frequently used for maternal and child health care. Important variables associated with use of health services were need factors (perceived health status and a health problem curtailing normal activities ≥2 or 3 days), having a regular source of care, having at least 1 English-speaking American friend, and lower number of children. This study's exploratory nature precludes specific policy or program recommendations but points to areas of investigation needed to inform state programs and policies.
ProQuest Publication Number
ProQuest ID
3051572
ISBN
978-0-493-66167-4
Recommended Citation
Patino, Fausto Guillermo, "Maternal and child health services utilization by Hispanics in Alabama" (2002). All ETDs from UAB. 7221.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7221
Comments
DrPH