Tiruneh, Y.M.; Anwoju, O.; Harrison, A.C.; Garcia, M.T.; Elbers, S.K. Examining Health-Seeking Behavior among Diverse Ethnic Subgroups within Black Populations in the United States and Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 368.
Tiruneh, Y.M.; Anwoju, O.; Harrison, A.C.; Garcia, M.T.; Elbers, S.K. Examining Health-Seeking Behavior among Diverse Ethnic Subgroups within Black Populations in the United States and Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 368.
Tiruneh, Y.M.; Anwoju, O.; Harrison, A.C.; Garcia, M.T.; Elbers, S.K. Examining Health-Seeking Behavior among Diverse Ethnic Subgroups within Black Populations in the United States and Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 368.
Tiruneh, Y.M.; Anwoju, O.; Harrison, A.C.; Garcia, M.T.; Elbers, S.K. Examining Health-Seeking Behavior among Diverse Ethnic Subgroups within Black Populations in the United States and Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 368.
Abstract
The Black population, often treated as ethnically homogenous, faces a constant challenge in accessing and utilizing healthcare services. This study examines the intragroup differences in health-seeking behavior among the multiple ethnic subgroups that comprise the Black community. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 239 adults ≥18 years who self-identified as Black in the United States and Canada. A multiple logistic regression model was fitted to evaluate the relationship between health-seeking behaviors and ethnic origin controlling for selected social and health related factors. The mean age of participants was 38.6 years, 31% were male, and 20% were unemployed. Sixty-one percent reported very good or excellent health status, and 59.7% reported not being treated for chronic disease at the time of the survey. Aging (OR=1.05, CI:1.01–1.09) and being female (OR= 0.30, CI: 0.14–0.65) were associated with favorable health-seeking behaviors. Compared with participants who had earned high school diplomas only, those who reported having earned graduate degrees were 75% less likely to have engaged in favorable health-seeking behavior (OR=0.25, 95% CI: 0.07–0.86). In the Black community of our sample, regardless of ethnic origins or country of birth, the factors associated with health-seeking behavior were age, gender, and educational attainment.
Keywords: African American; African; Caribbean; Healthcare Utilization; Ethnic Disparities; Health-seeking behavior; intragroup difference, black populations, ethnic subgroups
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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