Barriers to Health Care among Laotian Americans in Middle Tennessee.

We examined barriers to health care among Laotian Americans in a Middle Tennessee community that included a Laotian-speaking practitioner. A Laotian American primary care clinic nurse practitioner surveyed 312 adult Laotian Americans. The dependent variable was whether respondents visited (n = 214, 77.8%) or did not visit (n = 61,22.2%) primary care providers (PCP) in the last year. Chi-square analysis found visiting less likely if respondents were age 18-34 (p < .001), born in U.S. (p < .001), spent less time in U.S. (p = .010), never married (p = .001), lacked health insurance (p < .001), or lacked a PCP (p < .001). Chi-square analysis segmented by age found neither lack of English fluency nor preference for Laotian-speaking providers significantly reduced access, possibly because of the Laotian practitioner. Logistic regression found individuals with insurance five times more likely to visit and individuals with PCP 8.5 times more likely. Results support the value of training minority providers.