Summary
Summary: Understanding how perceived discrimination affects Asian Americans can help stakeholders target subgroups that are at highest risk of discrimination-related behaviors and design culturally appropriate interventions to ensure equitable access to healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed longstanding anti-Asian racism in the U.S. Yet, effects of discrimination on Asian American health are unknown, partly because diverse Asian American populations are analyzed in aggregate.
Authors aim to understand how perceived discrimination affects health care utilization among different Asian American subgroups. They examine the association of perceived discrimination with health care utilization using the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). In the CHIS, respondents reported whether they would’ve gotten better medical care if they belonged to a different race. Researchers examine the association between these responses and physician visits within the past year, in the survey years 2003, 2004 and 2016–2017. Subsequent modeling examines potential mediating and moderating factors such as limited English proficiency, immigration status, income, and survey year. Asian American subgroups analyzed include Asian Indian, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, and other Asian.
Findings: Results will highlight how perceived discrimination incentivizes or disincentivizes certain Asian subgroups to utilize health care. Asian American subgroups have differing and diverse experiences with discrimination due to their historical and cultural differences; results will elucidate how discrimination affects these subgroups. Results will be compared to non-Hispanic whites, who represent the racial group least likely to experience discrimination in the U.S. Mediation and moderation analysis will help understand how traditionally cited factors for health care utilization interact with perceived discrimination on Asian Americans.
Asian American subgroups are understudied, despite Asian Americans being one of the fastest growing racial groups in the U.S. Understanding how perceived discrimination affects Asian Americans can help stakeholders target subgroups that are at highest risk of discrimination-related behaviors and design culturally appropriate interventions.
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