Background:
Sociocultural factors have been linked to health care seeking among Latino adults. A supportive social context may encourage proactive steps leading to health maintenance, including healthcare seeking.
Objective:
To explore the cross-sectional association of marital status with annual health care provider visits among Hispanic/Latino adults ages 18-74 with and without chronic diseases.
Methods:
Participants from HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study with measures of social support, marital status, and health care use were included in the analysis (n=3,401). Marital status was self-reported. Health care use was defined as whether the participant saw a health care provider in the past twelve months. Weighted multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of marital status with healthcare use, after adjusting for covariates.
Results:
On average, participants were 40 years old , 83% were currently married, and 73% had at least one health care provider visit in the past twelve months. Analyses were stratified by gender and the findings were null in men, therefore only the findings in women are reported. Among Hispanic/ Latino women with chronic diseases, individuals who were married were more likely to have an annual health care provider visit than those who had never married. However, this association no longer remained significant after adjustment. Among Latino women without chronic diseases, individuals who were married were less likely to have an annual health care provider visit than those who were never married.
Conclusion:
Marital status is associated with health care use among Hispanic/Latino women without chronic diseases. Future research should assess whether marianismo, a culture specific gender role characterized by self-sacrifice and prioritization of familial needs, influences marital status’ association with preventive health care utilization among Latino women.
The impact of chronic disease and disability on the elderly
