Differences in health service use between infants of English speaking and non-English speaking backgrounds

Australian infants from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) are less likely to use maternal and child health services, GPs and hospital outpatient clinics than infants from English speaking backgrounds (ESB).

The study used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Its aim was to look at the differences in health status, use of health services and factors associated with their use between infants. aged 3 months to 18 months, from NESB and  ESB. Three thousand seven hundred and forty two (3742) infants were included in the analysis with 93% from ESB and 7% from NESB which included amongst others European, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese.

The study found:-

• Visits to health services were lower in NESB infants than in ESB infants
• NESB infants were less likely to use maternal and child health centres or phone help, maternal and child health nurse visits, GPs and paediatricians
• Vietnamese NESB infants had the lowest level of access to services followed by Arabic speaking, Chinese and other minorities
• European NESB infants use of health services was similar to ESB infants
• Younger mothers, those who smoked during pregnancy and those with three or more children were less likely to use maternal and child health centres and phone help
• There were no differences in visits to hospital outpatient clinics, medical/dental services, hospital emergency wards or other specialists between infants from NESB and ESB.

Mothers age, education, family size, income, place of residence and whether she had private health insurance were predictors of whether she used health services for her infant. However mother's cultural health beliefs, her knowledge of health as well as her motivation for seeking help would also play apart in determining her use of health services.

The gap in health service utilization between NESB infants and ESB infants needs to be addressed as this can have an impact on the child's future health.

Reference.

Ou L, Chen J, Hillman K. Health services utilisation disparities between English speaking and non-English speaking background Australian infants. BMC Public Health 2010. 10:182  doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-182 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/182

Comments

[captive insurance companies]

Certainly not surprising information, but definitely something that needs to be addressed, I agree. Always helps to have the numbers and proof to get the changes that are needed, of course.