Perceived social status, language and identified dental home among Hispanics in Florida

Abstract

The authors conducted a study to examine the extent to which perceived social status in communities and in U.S. society in general and primary language are associated with having a dental home among four Hispanic groups. The authors used random-digit-dialing technology to select a probability sample of Hispanic adults in Miami-Dade County, Fla., for a telephone-based survey. Trained interviewers administered the pretested survey instrument in Spanish or English. The authors used bivariate contingency tables and multiple logistic regression modeling to analyze the data. Eight hundred ten adults participated, and their nationality groups were as follows: Cuba (n = 450), Nicaragua (n = 139), Colombia (n = 132) and Puerto Rico (n = 89). After controlling for nationality group, the authors found that respondents who perceived themselves to be at a higher social status in the United States than in their own community were significantly more likely to have a dental home; those who reported having a higher community status were significantly less likely to have a dental home compared with respondents who perceived their national and community social status to be equal. Respondents who primarily spoke a language other than English at home were less likely than those who primarily spoke English to have a dental home. Female respondents were more likely than male respondents to have a dental home. Respondents with dental insurance were more likely to have a dental home than were those without dental insurance. Perceived social status and acculturation may influence whether Hispanics have a dental home. However, because of the sample design, the findings may not be generalizable to all Hispanic populations in Florida or the United States. Reducing disparities in oral health status and in use of dental services among Hispanics relative to non-Hispanic whites may require attention to cultural factors such as language, community structure and immigrants' degree of acculturation.