Jenny Yi, PhD, MPH, Pauline Wan, RN, and Krystal Luong, MBA. Health Promotion, University of Houston, 3855 Holman St., Houston, TX 77204, 713-743-9841, Jyi@uh.edu

Promoting the health and well being of women who come to the United States as immigrants require an approach that addresses their culture and unique needs. Little has been published about the preventive health behaviors among immigrant Chinese Americans in Texas. They are seldom reached through health education and prevention activities. The purpose of this study was to assess access to preventive health care and barriers to health care among immigrant Chinese American women. Five hundred eighty-one Chinese women ages 40 years or over were recruited from Chinese community centers in Houston and Dallas. The average length of residence in the U.S. was 14.5 years. Nearly 30 percent (28.1%) of respondents reported that they could not speak English. Utilization level of preventive health services among study participants was low. Length of residence in the U.S. and language acculturation was significantly associated with prior use of preventive services. For example, mean years in the US was 16.1 years for those who reported having had a mammogram and 9.6 years for those who had never had a mammogram (p=<0.0001). Other preventive services, such as blood cholesterol testing (p=<0.0001) and Pap smear testing (p=0.003) were also significantly associated with the length of residence in the U.S. The findings indicate that worse access to preventive health care was greatest among the less acculturated, low-income, and primarily newly arrived Chinese American women. Recommendations to increase knowledge and practice of preventive health services within a socio-cultural context will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• The participants will be able to identify barriers and facilitators of receiving preventive health services among immigrant Chinese American women.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Immigrant Women

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.