The Relationship between Psychosocial Status of Immigrant Latino mothers and Use of Emergency Pediatric Services

Abstract

Consistent empirical evidence has shown that low-income Latino populations tend to underutilize health care services and do not have a usual source of care. This article identifies and describes the sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics of Latino immigrant mothers who use emergency pediatric services, assesses the association of maternal characteristics with perceived barriers to care, and examines key predictors of total number of pediatric visits in a year. A survey was carried out to obtain data on reason for emergency room visit, usual sources of care, child's health, and mother's physical and psychosocial health. The results revealed a clear pattern of delayed care for acute problems in the children, a high number of reported barriers to pediatric care, and high mental distress reported by mothers.

Development of the Stress of Immigration Survey

“…To examine convergent validity, we examined correlations between each of the SOIS scales and a 7-item modified version of Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) 35 consisting of only the negatively worded items in the PSS (upset because of something unexpected, unable to control important things, felt nervous and stressed, felt that could not cope with all the things you had to do, being mad and feeling out of control, thinking about unfinished things, and difficulties were piling up so that could not overcome them). Consistent with results from another study conducted in Latinas, 51 the validity of the full 14-item PSS was not supported in our sample. Only the modified PSS with the negatively worded items had excellent psychometric properties (item-scale correlations corrected for overlap ranging from 0.50 to 0.67; Cronbach's alpha of 0.82), therefore, this was the version used in the present study.…”

Mexican-Origin Mothers’ Experiences Using Children’s Health Care Services

“…The pediatric emergency room was listed as the "usual source of care" for 36% of immigrant Latino mothers in one study (Zambrana, Ell, Dorrington, Wachsman, & Hodge, 1994), underscoring the fact that overall underutilization co-occurs with a heavy reliance on emergency services. Although Mexican-origin parents in this study and others (L. Clark, 1995;Kay, 1977) describe household management of children's symptoms with tea and over-the-counter remedies, there is little evidence that household-based care and the services of curanderos (folk healers) substitute for professional health care services (Andersen, Lewis, Giachello, Aday, & Chin, 1981;Higginbotham, Trevino, & Ray, 1990).…”

Mexican Immigrant Mothers' Expectations for Children's Health Services

“…Among first-generation Mexican American children, 64.2% had no health insurance, the highest rate among Hispanics overall and significantly higher than other ethic and racial groups (Burgos et al, 2005). When seeking care, immigrant parents turn to the pediatric emergency room, listed as the "usual source of care" for 36% of immigrant Latino mothers in one study (Zambrana, Ell, Dorrington, Wachsman, & Hodge, 1994). Overall underutilization of pediatric primary care co-occurs with a heavy reliance on emergency services.…”