Health services access and utilization among Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian and Vietnamese children in California

Background/significance. There is a lack of disaggregated child health information among Asian ethnicities.

Objective. This study examines the health status and health services access and utilization characteristics of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Vietnamese, and non-Hispanic white (NHW) children.

Methods. We analyzed the aggregated data from the 2003 and 2005 Californian Health Interview Survey, including 648 Chinese, 523 Filipino, 235 Japanese, 308 Korean, 314 South Asian, 264 Vietnamese and NHW children less than 12 years. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between Asian ethnicities and dependent variables such as parent-reported health status, health services access and utilization outcomes.

Results. Compared to NHWs, Korean children were more likely to lack health insurance, yet both Korean and Vietnamese children were less likely to report delayed care. As for utilization, Filipino children were twice as likely not to have recent contact with a health professional. Chinese and Vietnamese children were less likely to have delayed prescription medicine. Vietnamese children were less likely to have never seen a dentist. Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese children were less likely to have visited ER in the past 12 months. Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese children were more likely reported to be in fair or poor health by their parents. Age, gender, poverty, citizenship/nativity status, health insurance, parental marital status and parent-reported child health status were related to most outcomes.

Conclusions. Asian ethnicities have heterogeneous health care access and utilization patterns, suggesting the need for targeted outreach to different Asian ethnic groups.