142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Is the entire Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II necessary to measure acculturation in Mexican-American health research studies?

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Julio Guerrero, PhD , Department of Health Studies, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX
Ranjita Misra, PhD, CHES, FASHA , Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, West Virginia University, School of Public Health, Morgantown, WV
Alejandra Quezada, MPH , Department of Health Studies, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX
The Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican-Americans-II (ARSMA-II) has been commonly used to measure acculturation in Mexican-American (MA) health research studies.  However, few studies have examined whether the entirety of this scale is necessary to examine the relationship between acculturation and poor health outcomes.  Therefore, this study examined the relationship between each ARSMA-II question and health measures among MAs.

Secondary data from 107 MAs with type2 diabetes from Texas were analyzed.  Acculturation was measured using the ARSMA-II, which contains 30 questions that inquire about language preference, ethnic identity, cultural heritage, or ethnic interaction.  The scale is divided into Mexican-orientation and Anglo-orientation subscales with a 5-point Likert scale of responses.  Scores from each subscale are used to determine whether participants are Anglo- or Mexican-oriented.  Health outcomes were measured using clinical abnormalities associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) as outlined by the International Diabetes Federation.  Cross-tabulations examined the relationship between ARSMA-II questions and MetS.

The majority of participants met criteria for MetS(85.5%), were Mexican-oriented(84.3%), and lived along the US-Mexico border(81.2%).  Several ARSMA-II questions were associated with MetS or one of the associated abnormalities.  However, questions that inquired about language preference and ethnic interaction were most frequently associated with poor health measures.

This analysis revealed that greater health complications were experienced by Mexican-Americans who struggle with language barriers and social isolation.  Results provide firm basis that future studies and eventual prevention/management strategies to reduce MetS in this ethnic group should focus on targeting ethnic-specific social systems and increasing the availability of health information in the Spanish language.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the relationship between acculturation and Latino health outcomes Describe the implications of this study’s results Explain the study's limitations and recommendations for future studies

Keyword(s): Latinos, Chronic Disease Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am presenting results from my dissertation research. Among my scientific interests has been understanding the impact of cultural experiences on health among Mexican-Americans.
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.