Adult Immigrants’ Utilization of Physician Visits, Dentist Visits, and Prescription Medication

This study sought factors in immigrants’ utilization of services of physicians and dentists, as well as their use of prescription medication. The study used data from 1452 adult immigrants collected for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2012. Logistic regression results showed that age, US citizenship, and health insurance status were associated with the use of physician, dentist, and medication services. For this sample, physician visits were associated negatively with Hispanic ethnicity, poverty-level family income, and English-language proficiency. Also, dentist visits were associated positively with female gender, good health, and more education; and negatively with Black ethnicity, family income at 101–200% of poverty level, and English-language proficiency. Medication use was associated positively with poor health and female gender, and negatively with Hispanic ethnicity. Implications for policy and intervention development/implementation are discussed.