Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors, and Health Conditions of Dominican Adults Living in Puerto Rico.
Martha TamezCarlos F Ríos-BedoyaJosé F Rodríguez-OrengoKatherine L TuckerCatherine M ChampagnePublished in: Journal of immigrant and minority health (2019)
Dominicans are the largest migrant community in Puerto Rico, yet understudied. We compared risk factors and health conditions of Dominicans versus Puerto Ricans (PRs). Cross-sectional survey of Dominicans (n = 55) and PRs (n = 310) aged 30-75 years, assessed with validated questionnaires and standardized anthropometric measurements. Significantly, more Dominicans than PRs had attained <8th grade education (37.7 vs. 8.0%), reported household income ≤$10,000 (76.1 vs. 56.9%), lacked health insurance (19.6 vs. 5.5%), and reported food insecurity (24.5 vs. 12.1%). They spent fewer hours/day watching television (2.9 vs. 3.8), and were less likely to smoke (7.6 vs. 19.6%). Medically-diagnosed depression was lower among Dominicans than PRs (9.6 vs. 23.0%); questionnaire-based high depressive symptomatology was similar (47.9 vs. 52.8%). Dominicans living in Puerto Rico had more socioeconomic risk factors but healthier lifestyle behaviors and lower prevalence of medically-diagnosed depression than PRs. Tailored approaches are needed to ameliorate disparities in each ethnic group.
Keyphrases
- risk factors
- health insurance
- healthcare
- mental health
- public health
- physical activity
- affordable care act
- metabolic syndrome
- depressive symptoms
- cardiovascular disease
- weight loss
- sleep quality
- health information
- bipolar disorder
- cross sectional
- risk assessment
- psychometric properties
- type diabetes
- climate change
- social media