HEALTH-CARE ACCESS AND PREVENTIVE CARE AMONG VIETNAMESE IMMIGRANTS - DO TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES POSE BARRIERS

Some have speculated that underutilization of Western health services among non-Western populations can be explained by traditional health b eliefs and practices rooted deep within cultures. These beliefs and pr actices may act as barriers to access to and utilization of services. Among Vietnamese, in particular, a number of traditional health belief s and practices have been identified which are said to pose barriers t o Western medical care. No studies to date, however, have examined thi s hypothesis empirically. To examine this hypothesis, we measured trad itional health beliefs and practices among Vietnamese in the San Franc isco Bay area and analyzed the relationships between these factors and access to health care and use of preventive health services. The resu lts of this study show clearly that many Vietnamese possess traditiona l health beliefs and practices which differ from those of the general U.S. population. Yet, the data do not support the hypothesis that thes e traditional beliefs and practices act as barriers to access to Weste rn medical care or to utilization of preventive services. Being marrie d and poverty status were the most consistent predictors of health car e access. Furthermore, the components of access to health care (having some form of health insurance or having a regular doctor, for example ) were the strongest predictors of preventive health care services uti lization. Importantly, the cultural attributes of individuals did not explain either lack of health care access or underutilization of preve ntive health care services. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limite d