Health insurance status, health seeking, and mammography among Latinas in the u.s.-Mexico border

Latinas have lower rates of mammography than Anglo-American women, while among Latinas, lacking insurance and having lower acculturation are correlated with additional disparities in mammography screening. Possible ways to overcome these barriers have significant interest to health care professionals. In a survey of Latino border residents of El Paso County, Texas, we investigated health care use and lifetime mammography among a sample of (n= 324) Latinas with and without health insurance. Consistent with previous research, findings from our study show that Latinas with health insurance were significantly more likely to report ever having a mammogram than uninsured Latinas. Likewise, more acculturated Latinas were more likely to report ever having a mammogram than less acculturated Latinas. Yet, among insured Latinas overall, significant differences in mammography were found by health care site. Latinas who only accessed health care in the U.S. were more likely to have ever had a mammogram than Latinas who utilized a combination of U.S. and Mexican health care ( p < .001) or Latinas who accessed health care solely in Mexico (p < .001). However, in an important reversal, among uninsured Latinas, those who only accessed health care in the U.S. were significantly less likely to report ever having had a mammogram than Latinas who utilized a combination of U.S. and Mexican health care (p < .001) and Latinas who only accessed Mexican health (p < .001). Thus, for Latinas lacking health insurance, access to Mexican health care may help decrease disparities in mammography.