261521 Health status among U.S. Hispanic children: Impact of language of interview on parental reports

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 12:50 PM - 1:05 PM

Patricia Pastor, PhD , National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, Hyattsville, MD
Cynthia A. Reuben, MA , National Center for Health Statistics/CDC, Hyattsville, MD
Health status is a widely used indicator of children's health. Little is known about how Hispanic parents rate the health of their children. Our study examined the association between the health status of Hispanic children and the variables of household language and interview language. The 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative random-digit-dial telephone survey, collected data from a household adult, usually a parent, about the child's health status (“Would you say (sample child's) health in general is: excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?”), sociodemographic characteristics, and health conditions. We examined data for 11,523 Hispanic children aged 0-17 whose parents were interviewed in either English or Spanish. The percent of children with ”worse health status” (good/fair/poor health) in 4 groups defined by household language (HL) and interview language (IL) were compared. SAS/SUDAAN was used to estimate the unadjusted percent of children with worse health status and the adjusted percent (controlling for selected sociodemographic characteristics). The unadjusted percent of children with worse health status varied for children in the 4 groups: 1) Spanish HL, English IL: 15%; 2) Spanish HL, Spanish IL: 49%; 3) English HL, Spanish IL: 40%; 4) English HL, English IL: 19% (p<0.001). Children with Spanish interviews, regardless of household language, were more likely to have worse health status than children with English interviews. Adjusting for the child's sociodemographic characteristics did not eliminate differences in health status by interview language. The impact of interview language will be further assessed by examining specific health conditions.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Describe the association between language of interview and reported health status for US Hispanic children.

Keywords: Hispanic Youth, Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been conducting research in the field of child health at the National Center for Health Statistics for the past 12 years. I have been the author of numerous publications about child disability, mental health, and health status.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.