Health Care Discrimination and Immigration Fears: Unpacking COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Latino Adults.

Publisher: American Public Health Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 1254074 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1541-0048 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00900036 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Washington, DC : American Public Health Association
Original Publication: New York [etc.]

Hispanic or Latino*/psychology ; Hispanic or Latino*/statistics & numerical data ; COVID-19 Vaccines*/administration & dosage ; Vaccination Hesitancy*/psychology ; Vaccination Hesitancy*/statistics & numerical data ; COVID-19*/prevention & control; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; United States ; Fear/psychology ; Emigrants and Immigrants/psychology ; Emigrants and Immigrants/statistics & numerical data ; Emigration and Immigration ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Aged

Objectives. To examine the relationship between health care discrimination and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy attributed to fears of immigration status complications among unvaccinated Latino adults and to determine whether the association differs among immigrants and US-born individuals. Methods. After universal adult eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, a nationally representative sample of 12 887 adults was surveyed using online and mobile random digit dialing from May 7 to June 7, 2021. The analytic sample (n = 881) comprised unvaccinated Latino adults. We examined the association between individual and cumulative health care discrimination measures and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy assignable to immigration-related fears. Results. Using a cumulative measure of health care discrimination, each additional experience corresponded to a 28% higher odds of reporting vaccine hesitancy Because of immigration-related fears. Findings were consistent across US-born and immigrant Latino adults. Four of the 5 discriminatory experiences were positively associated with vaccine hesitancy, including the absence of optimal treatment options, denial or delayed access to necessary health care, physician communication barriers, and lack of specialist referrals. Conclusions. Findings confirm a positive association between health care discrimination and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy attributable to immigration-related fears among Latino adults, regardless of immigration status. ( Am J Public Health . 2024;114(S6):S505-S509. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307668) [Formula: see text].

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0 (COVID-19 Vaccines)

Date Created: 20240731 Date Completed: 20240731 Latest Revision: 20240904

20240904

PMC11292271

10.2105/AJPH.2024.307668

39083732