IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v6y2009i12p3225-3234d6566.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Access to Health Care and Religion among Young American Men

Author

Listed:
  • R. Frank Gillum

    (College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20060, USA)

  • Nicole Jarrett

    (W. Montague Cobb, NMA Institute, 1012 Tenth St. NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA)

  • Thomas O. Obisesan

    (College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC 20060, USA)

Abstract

In order to elucidate cultural correlates of utilization of primary health services by young adult men, we investigated religion in which one was raised and service utilization. Using data from a national survey we tested the hypothesis that religion raised predicts access to and utilization of a regular medical care provider, examinations, HIV and other STD testing and counseling at ages 18–44 years in men born between 1958 and 1984. We also hypothesized that religion raised would be more predictive of utilization for Hispanic Americans and non-Hispanic Black Americans than for non-Hispanic White Americans. The study included a national sample of 4276 men aged 18–44 years. Descriptive and multivariate statistics were used to assess the hypotheses using data on religion raised and responses to 14 items assessing health care access and utilization. Compared to those raised in no religion, those raised mainline Protestant were more likely (p vs. 79%), health insurance coverage (66% vs. 80%) and physical examination (43% vs. 48%). Religion raised was not associated with testicular exams, STD counseling or HIV testing. In multivariate analyses controlling for confounders, significant associations of religion raised with insurance coverage, a physician as usual source of care and physical examination remained which varied by race/ethnicity. In conclusion, although religion is a core aspect of culture that deserves further study as a possible determinant of health care utilization, we were not able to document any consistent pattern of significant association even in a population with high rates of religious participation.

Suggested Citation

  • R. Frank Gillum & Nicole Jarrett & Thomas O. Obisesan, 2009. "Access to Health Care and Religion among Young American Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:6:y:2009:i:12:p:3225-3234:d:6566
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/6/12/3225/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/6/12/3225/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas, J.W. & Barr-Anderson, D.J. & Kington, R.S., 2003. "Health Status, Health Insurance, and Health Care Utilization Patterns of Immigrant Black Men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(10), pages 1740-1747.
    2. Reindl Benjamins, Maureen & Brown, Carolyn, 2004. "Religion and preventative health care utilization among the elderly," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 109-118, January.
    3. Kressin, N.R. & Chang, B.-H. & Whittle, J. & Peterson, E.D. & Clark, J.A. & Rosen, A.K. & Orner, M. & Collins, T.C. & Alley, L.G. & Petersen, L.A., 2004. "Racial differences in cardiac catheterization as a function of patients' beliefs," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(12), pages 2091-2097.
    4. Benjamins, Maureen Reindl & Hummer, Robert A. & Eberstein, Isaac W. & Nam, Charles B., 2004. "Self-reported health and adult mortality risk: An analysis of cause-specific mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 1297-1306, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiunn Wang & Laura Marsiliani & Thomas Renstrom, 2017. "Tax Reform, Unhealthy Commodities and Endogenous Health," Working Papers 2017_12, Durham University Business School.
    2. Shukri A. Hassan & Farah Mohamed & Najma Sheikh & Guiomar Basualdo & Nahom A. Daniel & Rahel Schwartz & Beyene Tewelde Gebreselassie & Yikealo K. Beyene & Luwam Gabreselassie & Kifleyesus Bayru & Beth, 2021. "“They Wait until the Disease Has Taking over You and the Doctors Cannot Do Anything about It”: Qualitative Insights from Harambee! 2.0," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-20, December.
    3. William Griffiths & Xiaohui Zhang & Xueyan Zhao, 2010. "A Stochastic Frontier Model for Discrete Ordinal Outcomes: A Health Production Function," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1092, The University of Melbourne.
    4. Mosi Adesina Ifatunji & Yanica Faustin & Wendy Lee & Deshira Wallace, 2022. "Black Nativity and Health Disparities: A Research Paradigm for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-40, July.
    5. Fritzell, Sara & Ringbäck Weitoft, Gunilla & Fritzell, Johan & Burström, Bo, 2007. "From macro to micro: The health of Swedish lone mothers during changing economic and social circumstances," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2474-2488, December.
    6. Laura Cacciani & Anna Maria Bargagli & Giulia Cesaroni & Francesco Forastiere & Nera Agabiti & Marina Davoli, 2015. "Education and Mortality in the Rome Longitudinal Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-12, September.
    7. Julien Hugonnier & Florian Pelgrin & Pascal St‐Amour, 2020. "Closing down the shop: Optimal health and wealth dynamics near the end of life," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 138-153, February.
    8. Zheng Xie & Adrienne N Poon & Zhijun Wu & Weiyan Jian & Kit Yee Chan, 2015. "Is Occupation a Good Predictor of Self-Rated Health in China?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Boeuf, Benjamin, 2019. "Political ideology and health risk perceptions of food," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Jiangping Li & Lijun Dong & Danian Tian & Yu Zhao & Huifang Yang & Xiaoyu Zhi & Lingqin Zhu, 2018. "Association between pesticide exposure intensity and self-rated health among greenhouse vegetable farmers in Ningxia, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-12, December.
    11. Ljunge, Martin, 2016. "Migrants, health, and happiness: Evidence that health assessments travel with migrants and predict well-being," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 35-46.
    12. Gorry, Devon & Slavov, Sita Nataraj, 2021. "The effect of retirement on health biomarkers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    13. Ye, Wei & Rodriguez, Javier M., 2021. "Highly vulnerable communities and the Affordable Care Act: Health insurance coverage effects, 2010–2018," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    14. Lizhong Peng & Jie Chen & Xiaohui Guo, 2022. "Macroeconomic conditions and health‐related outcomes in the United States: A metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area‐level analysis between 2004 and 2017," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 3-20, January.
    15. Shirmin Bintay Kader & Md Sabbir Ahmed & Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk & Xavier Leloup & Laurence Simard & Catherine Leviten-Reid & Nazeem Muhajarine, 2024. "Rental Housing Type and Self-Reported General Health and Mental Health Status: Evidence from the Canadian Housing Survey 2018–2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-19, September.
    16. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Energy poverty and health: Panel data evidence from Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    17. Alison Reynolds & Claire E. Altman, 2018. "Subjective Health Assessments Among Older Adults in Mexico," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(5), pages 825-850, October.
    18. Lauren Hersch Nicholas & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2019. "The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on the Health and Labor Supply of Older Adults: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(2), pages 455-480, March.
    19. Siddiqi, Arjumand & Zuberi, Daniyal & Nguyen, Quynh C., 2009. "The role of health insurance in explaining immigrant versus non-immigrant disparities in access to health care: Comparing the United States to Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1452-1459, November.
    20. von dem Knesebeck, Olaf & Verde, Pablo E. & Dragano, Nico, 2006. "Education and health in 22 European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1344-1351, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:6:y:2009:i:12:p:3225-3234:d:6566. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.