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The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States

BACKGROUND: There are 3 million refugees living in the United States today whose health and wellbeing may be diminished by not being able to understand and use health information. Little is known about these barriers to health in multiethnic refugee communities. OBJECTIVE: This present study examine...

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Autores principales: Feinberg, Iris, O'Connor, Mary Helen, Owen-Smith, Ashli, Ogrodnick, Michelle Mavreles, Rothenberg, Richard
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SLACK Incorporated 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7751446/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33313933
http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20201109-01
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author Feinberg, Iris
O'Connor, Mary Helen
Owen-Smith, Ashli
Ogrodnick, Michelle Mavreles
Rothenberg, Richard
author_facet Feinberg, Iris
O'Connor, Mary Helen
Owen-Smith, Ashli
Ogrodnick, Michelle Mavreles
Rothenberg, Richard
author_sort Feinberg, Iris
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: There are 3 million refugees living in the United States today whose health and wellbeing may be diminished by not being able to understand and use health information. Little is known about these barriers to health in multiethnic refugee communities. OBJECTIVE: This present study examined (1) the relationship between English proficiency, health literacy, length of time in the US, and health status; and (2) differences in poor health status caused by limited English proficiency and low health literacy individually and in combination to better understand which barriers might be addressed by improving refugee health. METHODS: Refugees (N = 136) age 18 to 65 years were recruited using health clinics and refugee resettlement agencies. Survey questions included demographics, health status, health literacy, English language proficiency, social determinants of health, and barriers to getting health care. Interpreters were used as necessary. We used a cross-sectional study with purposeful sampling. KEY RESULTS: There is a high correlation (Pearson's r = 0.77) between health literacy and English proficiency; they were moderately correlated with health status (r = 0.40 and 0.37, respectively). Length of time in the US only modestly correlated with health status (r = 0.16). Health literacy and English proficiency taken individually were strong predictors of health status (health literacy odds ratio [OR] = 4.0; 95% confidence interval [1.6–9.9], English proficiency OR = 3.6, confidence interval [1.5–9.0]) but not significant. Their interaction, however, was significant and accounted for most of the effect (log odds for interaction = 1.67, OR = 5.1, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: English proficiency and health literacy individually and in combination facilitate poor health and present health-related barriers for refugees. Length of time in the US for refugees may not correlate with health status despite studies that suggest a change in health over time for the larger immigrant population. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2020;4(4):e230–e236.] PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: The combined effects of limited English proficiency and low health literacy can create significant barriers to good health outcomes in refugee populations. Length of time in the US for refugees may not correlate with health status despite studies that suggest a change in health over time for the larger immigrant population.
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spelling pubmed-77514462020-12-22 The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States Feinberg, Iris O'Connor, Mary Helen Owen-Smith, Ashli Ogrodnick, Michelle Mavreles Rothenberg, Richard Health Lit Res Pract Original Research BACKGROUND: There are 3 million refugees living in the United States today whose health and wellbeing may be diminished by not being able to understand and use health information. Little is known about these barriers to health in multiethnic refugee communities. OBJECTIVE: This present study examined (1) the relationship between English proficiency, health literacy, length of time in the US, and health status; and (2) differences in poor health status caused by limited English proficiency and low health literacy individually and in combination to better understand which barriers might be addressed by improving refugee health. METHODS: Refugees (N = 136) age 18 to 65 years were recruited using health clinics and refugee resettlement agencies. Survey questions included demographics, health status, health literacy, English language proficiency, social determinants of health, and barriers to getting health care. Interpreters were used as necessary. We used a cross-sectional study with purposeful sampling. KEY RESULTS: There is a high correlation (Pearson's r = 0.77) between health literacy and English proficiency; they were moderately correlated with health status (r = 0.40 and 0.37, respectively). Length of time in the US only modestly correlated with health status (r = 0.16). Health literacy and English proficiency taken individually were strong predictors of health status (health literacy odds ratio [OR] = 4.0; 95% confidence interval [1.6–9.9], English proficiency OR = 3.6, confidence interval [1.5–9.0]) but not significant. Their interaction, however, was significant and accounted for most of the effect (log odds for interaction = 1.67, OR = 5.1, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: English proficiency and health literacy individually and in combination facilitate poor health and present health-related barriers for refugees. Length of time in the US for refugees may not correlate with health status despite studies that suggest a change in health over time for the larger immigrant population. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2020;4(4):e230–e236.] PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: The combined effects of limited English proficiency and low health literacy can create significant barriers to good health outcomes in refugee populations. Length of time in the US for refugees may not correlate with health status despite studies that suggest a change in health over time for the larger immigrant population. SLACK Incorporated 2020-12-11 /pmc/articles/PMC7751446/ /pubmed/33313933 http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20201109-01 Text en © 2020 Feinberg, O'Connor, Owen-Smith, et al.; licensee SLACK Incorporated. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). This license allows users to copy and distribute, to remix, transform, and build upon the article, for any purpose, even commercially, provided the author is attributed and is not represented as endorsing the use made of the work.
spellingShingle Original Research
Feinberg, Iris
O'Connor, Mary Helen
Owen-Smith, Ashli
Ogrodnick, Michelle Mavreles
Rothenberg, Richard
The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States
title The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States
title_full The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States
title_fullStr The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States
title_full_unstemmed The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States
title_short The Relationship Between Refugee Health Status and Language, Literacy, and Time Spent in the United States
title_sort relationship between refugee health status and language, literacy, and time spent in the united states
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7751446/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33313933
http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20201109-01
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