Health behavior and culture: A study of Chinese-American families in the Cleveland area.

摘要

The major purpose of this research is to consider major predictors of folk health care use of a specific ethnic group--Chinese Americans. Andersen's (1973 & 1995) model of health service utilization is adopted and expanded for this study. Predisposing variables include demographic characteristics/social structure elements, immigration history and one's subjective and objective health status. The enabling factors consist of one's external and internal resources. External resources are one's financial resources and family structure. Internal resources include the extent of one's acculturation into American society and present health beliefs. The dependent variable is one's health behavior in terms of one's preferences toward Chinese treatment/Western treatment, and a combination of Chinese and Western treatment for diagnosed illnesses and symptoms of illnesses.; In this dissertation, hypotheses are analyzed in terms of the effects of predisposing and enabling variables singly and interactively on the dependent variable. In addition to the test of the research model, the survey population is divided into three generational groups, four major groups based on the respondents' countries of origin, and three groups based on one's length of residence in the United States. Differences in the use of health care are compared. Anova, Manova with Roy-Bargman F-to-enter test, and discriminant analysis with wilks F-to-remove methods were used for statistical purposes.; This research collected data from 240 adult Chinese-American respondents using quantitative mailed questionnaires in English or Chinese. The sample was randomly drawn from 1,080 members of the Chinese American Association in the Greater Cleveland Area. The results show there are generational differences among three age groups, among four groups of country of origin, and especially among groups of different length of residence in the United States. In the full research model, the factors that contributed the most to medical preferences are acculturation level and health beliefs for both diagnosed illnesses and symptoms of illnesses. In the partial research model, one's health beliefs contributed the most to one's preferences for Western treatment, Chinese treatment, and a combination of Western and Chinese treatments in terms of diagnosed illnesses and symptoms of illnesses.