Summary
The study sought to assess differences in healthcare access, utilization, and experiences among Latino children in California by parental citizenship status and language use. 2,841 interviews of parents of Latino children under the age of twelve years were conducted using data from the 2011 and 2012 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) public use child files. Access to care, utilization of care, and experiences by parental citizenship status and household language use were analyzed. Authors found no significant differences in access to care by parental citizenship status. Children with two non-citizen parents had fewer doctor visits and were less likely to go to the [emergency department] ED in the past year than those with two citizen parents.
Among children with one or two non-citizen parents, their parents reported worse experiences in care than those with two citizen parents. Similar results were observed for language use. Parents of children in bilingual and Spanish-only households were less likely to report that their children's doctors explained things clearly, and parents in Spanish-only households were less likely to communicate by telephone or email than those in English-only households.
Publication Authors:
- Alexander N. Ortega
- Ryan M. McKenna
- Brent A. Langellier
- Héctor E. Alcalá
- Dylan H. Roby, PhD