Variations in African American and Non-Hispanic White Children’s Health Care Utilization

A multigroup structural equation model was used to investigate theprocesses underlying health care use between Black and White children. Data from the2003 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a computer-assisted telephone survey,were used. The sample for this research consisted of 28,064 Black and White children,ages 4 to 11 years, drawn from the larger pool of children whose families participatedin the survey. Results showed that the processes underlying health care use were similarfor Blacks and Whites; however, there were some differences in factor loadings betweenBlacks and Whites. Furthermore, there were differences between Blacks and Whites in theeffects of (a) family economic resources on health problems, (b) health problems andaccess to care on parental distress, and (c) access to care and health problems onprevention- and curative-based use. No interaction effects were found for Blacks andWhites in the associations between (a) parental distress, and satisfaction withphysician interaction and health care usage, and (b) satisfaction with physicianinteractions and health care utilization