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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Kavita Thirumalai, MPH, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, MA, Nhien Luong, MPH, Stephanie D. Golz, MPH, Mohammad M Rahman, MD, DrPH, Hozefa Divan, MSPH, Aimee Reedy, MPH, and Guadalupe S Olivas, PhD. Data Management & Statistics, Santa Clara County Public Health Department, 3003 Moorpark Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128, 408-885-4215, kavita.thirumalai@hhs.co.santa-clara.ca.us
Background: As the proportion of the Hispanic population continues to grow in Santa Clara County, the need to better understand their health status, including any health disparities has become significant.
Objective: To measure the prevalence of various social, economic, and health risk behaviors among Hispanics of Santa Clara County.
Method: 2547 adults who were selected through random digit dialing were interviewed in English or Spanish using the BRFS methodology adapted from the CDC.
Results: Of the 477 Hispanic adults (22.7% of the survey participants), 30.1% (95%CI:26.2-34) had less than a high school education, and 50% were under 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. 10.7% (95% CI: 8.1-13.3) reported cost as a barrier to health care in the past 12 months, 18.6% had no health care coverage, and 26.1% perceived their health status as poor (95% CI:22.4-29.8). The prevalence of these and some high risk behaviors (lower likelihood of using helmets, increased acute drinking, lower perception of condom effectiveness against HIV, acquiring higher number of new sexual partners in the past 5months, lack of attention to dental health, etc.)were significantly higher among Hispanics than those found in the overall county population as well as among Whites, African Americans, and Asians.
Conclusion: Various significant disparities were found in a number of social, economic, and health risk behaviors between Hispanics and other ethnic groups. These findings suggest the need for strengthening programs and services and increase community involvement to reduce health disparities among Hispanics.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Barriers to Care, Risky Behaviors
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.