Acculturation Disparities in Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing among Hispanic Men in the U.S.

• In Event: Medical Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 12. Migration and Health

Abstract

While it is well known that acculturation stratifies the health outcomes of Hispanics in the U.S., it is less clear how structural mechanisms perpetrate these health inequalities. This paper refocuses acculturation based health inequalities on structural healthcare quality by examining disparate levels of quality in doctor to patient interactions regarding sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and quality of care.
Data from 4 waves of the 2011-2019 NSFG survey were used, with a representative sample of Hispanic men ages 15-45 living in the U.S.
Results indicate that quality of interactions with healthcare providers are stratified by level of acculturation where Hispanic men with a low level of acculturation have low quality interactions compared to Hispanic men with a high acculturation level, who have interactions similar to Non-Hispanic white men, even when accounting for healthcare access, use and sexual behavior.
The findings of this study have implications for our understanding of the role of doctor and patient interactions in maintaining and supporting health disparities while also calling into question our knowledge of STI prevalence among Hispanic men based on fundamental inequality in testing.

Author

• Tyler Fox Beltran, University of Maryland-College Park