Introduction: While much research exists on racial and ethnic disparities in access to preventive care, less is known in persons of multiple races. We described prevalence of barriers to preventive care in US adults, by subgroups of multiple races.
Methods: Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2013-2022), we conducted a pooled cross-sectional study of 3,301,491 US adults (≥18 years) eligible for type 2 diabetes screening. Among adults reporting a single race or ethnicity and subgroups of multiple races, we estimated the prevalence of: being uninsured, not having a primary care doctor, healthcare cost concerns in the past 12 months, and no physical exam in the past 12 months.
Results: Prevalence of preventive care barriers were heterogenous among all groups. For most subgroups of multiple races, prevalence was within that of the component single race groups. Healthcare cost concerns were more prevalent in adults self-identified as both American Indian/Alaska Native and White than those who reported either racial group alone, while adults self-identified as both Asian and Pacific Islander showed the opposite pattern.
Conclusions: Heterogeneity in the prevalence of barriers to preventive care among subgroups of multiple races highlights the possible need to properly identify these subgroups and for culturally sensitive approaches for type 2 diabetes prevention.
A. Koyama: None. S.J. Onufrak: None. F. Xu: None. K.M. Bullard: None. R. Saelee: None. Y. Miyamoto: None. M. Papalii: None. M.E. Pavkov: None.
