Disparities in Preventive Health Behaviors Among Non-Hispanic White Men

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to estimate and compare the age-adjusted prevalence of not receiving a flu vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, or prostate cancer screening among U.S.- and foreign-born White men by region of birth (Europe/Russia and the Arab Nations) and examine these associations while controlling for potential confounders. Twelve years of restricted data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) including 91,636 U.S.- and foreign-born men were used. Chi-squares were used to compare descriptive statistics, and odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) were used for inferential statistics. In crude and adjusted analyses, foreign-born Arab American men were less likely to report receiving a flu (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.21, 0.67) and pneumonia (OR = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.16, 0.70) vaccine compared with U.S.-born White men. There were no statistically significant differences for PSA testing between Arab American and White men. This national study examining uptake of flu and pneumonia vaccines suggests estimates are lower for foreign-born Arab American men compared with U.S.-born White men. Future studies should collect qualitative data that assesses the cultural context surrounding prevention and screening behaviors among Arab Americans.

Disparities in influenza vaccination: Arab Americans in California

“…Previous studies on influenza vaccination prevalence among foreign-born Arab Americans in National Health Interview Surveys found that Arab Americans were less likely to report influenza vaccination than NHW [13,14]. Dallo and Kindratt reported an odds ratio of 0.48 for vaccination among foreign-born Arab American women and an odds ratio of 0.42 for vaccination among foreign born Arab American males in unadjusted models when compared to NHW [13,14].…”

“…To our knowledge, only two previous studies have examined influenza vaccine uptake among Arab Americans [13,14]. Based on 12 years of data obtained from the National Health Interview Survey, foreign-born Arab Americans were less likely to receive the influenza vaccine than both foreign-born and US-born Whites [13,14]. However, both studies only considered data up until 2011, were solely focused on foreign-born Arab Americans, and used fairly small sample sizes (238 males, and 205 females).…”

Suspected undiagnosed ADRD among Middle Eastern and North African Americans

“…Studies using national data sources have reported low levels of education among foreign-born MENA adults ranging from 18-32.8% (11,13,(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31). When strati ed by sex, studies showed that 22.7-26.7% of foreign-born MENA women (13,32) and 11% of foreign-born MENA men had less than high school education (13,33).…”

“…Several studies have used NHIS data to uncover health outcomes among foreign-born Middle Eastern and Arab American immigrant populations (11,13,25,26,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). By linking with MEPS, we accessed additional health information from a subsample of participants who completed the previous year's NHIS.…”

Screening and follow-up for depression among Arab Americans

“…Screening for depression is generally conducted at "initial visits" or "annual visits" and rarely at urgent/sick visits. Many Arab Americans visit the doctor when they are sick rather than for preventive or screening reasons (Dallo & Kindratt, 2015a, 2015b. Therefore, this may explain the lower estimate of being offered/completing a PHQ-9 among Arab Americans compared to other racial and ethnic groups.…”