Pediatric Folk Beliefs of Black Chicagoans

Objectives: To estimate the familiarity of Black inner-city Chicagoans with pediatric folk beliefs identified by key informants.

Study Design: Five Black staff members at an inner-city clinic identified 10 ‘African American folk beliefs' regarding pediatric care. A survey of 606 African American patients in Chicago assessed familiarity with these beliefs, and with two medical items. Data were under analysis as of February 2008 and so unable for submission at that time.

Results: Six of the 10 folk beliefs were known to over three quarters of respondents in this study, and 4 of them were widely thought true. Birthplace and mother's birthplace were associated with the beliefs with which respondents were familiar but not with the absolute number of cultural beliefs. Medical recommendations for pediatric care were both more familiar and more believed than any of the identified folk beliefs. Agreement with back or side sleeping position was associated with the nativity of respondents, but not with their agreement with cultural beliefs.

Conclusion: The widespread familiarity with specific folk beliefs in this population suggests that an understanding of these beliefs may be important for culturally-competent providers of pediatric care in Chicago's inner city. Further research is needed to determine whether these findings are reproducible in other socioeconomic and geographic settings.