Predictors of Delayed Healthcare Seeking Among American Muslim Women.

Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101159262 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1931-843X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15409996 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Womens Health (Larchmt) Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Larchmont, NY : Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., [2002]-

Attitude to Health* ; Health Behavior* ; Islam* ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care* ; Religion and Medicine*; Delivery of Health Care/*statistics & numerical data; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Chicago ; Community-Based Participatory Research ; Cultural Characteristics ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Delivery of Health Care/ethnology ; Discrimination, Psychological ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Minority Groups ; Needs Assessment ; United States

Background: Delayed care seeking is associated with adverse health outcomes. For Muslim women, delayed care seeking might include religion-related motivations, such as a preference for female clinicians, concerns about preserving modesty, and fatalistic beliefs. Our study assesses associations between religion-related factors and delayed care seeking due to a perceived lack of female clinicians.
Materials and Methods: Surveys were distributed to Muslim women attending mosque and community events in Chicago. Survey items included measures of religiosity, religious fatalism, discrimination, modesty, and alternative medicine utilization and worship practices. The outcome measure asked for levels of agreement to the statement "I have delayed seeking medical care when no woman doctor is available to see me."
Results: Two hundred fifty-four women completed the survey with nearly equal numbers of African Americans (26%), Arab Americans (33%), and South Asians (33%). Fifty-three percent reported delays in care seeking due to a perceived lack of female clinicians. In multivariate analysis adjusting for sociodemographic factors, higher religiosity (odds ratio [OR] = 5.2, p < 0.01) and modesty levels (OR = 1.4, p < 0.001) were positively associated with delayed care seeking. Having lived in the United States for >20 years (OR = 0.22, p < 0.05) was negatively associated with delayed care seeking.
Conclusion: Many American Muslim women reported delays in care seeking due to a perceived lack of female clinicians. Women with higher levels of modesty and self-rated religiosity had higher odds of delaying care. Women who had lived in the United States for longer durations had lower odds of delaying care. Our research highlights the need for gender-concordant providers and culturally sensitive care for American Muslims.

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P30 CA014599 United States CA NCI NIH HHS; UL1 RR024999 United States RR NCRR NIH HHS

Date Created: 20160219 Date Completed: 20170529 Latest Revision: 20220408

20231215

PMC5912720

10.1089/jwh.2015.5517

26890129