Ang Ating Mata: Disparities in Eye Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among Older Adult Filipino-Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area Counties

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 104 - 114
• Main Authors: Jiro, Marycon Chin, Sigua, Michael, Ivey, Susan L., Maus, Marlon, Hennein, Lauren, Dio, Migel, Cocohoba, Jennifer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adults; Age; Aged; Asian; Asian Americans; Attitudes; Behavior Modification; Blindness; Chi-square test; Clinical outcomes; Comparative Law; Counties; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cultural sensitivity; Data analysis; Demographics; Departments; Diabetic retinopathy; Educational Attainment; Eye; Eye Diseases; Eye examinations; eyes; Filipino Americans; Health behavior; Health disparities; Health education; Health information; Health insurance; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health services; Human subjects; Humans; income; Insurance; International & Foreign Law; Knowledge; Language Usage; Low income groups; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Migrant Education; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Groups; Older people; Online Surveys; Ophthalmology; Original Paper; outreach; Philippino; Physical disabilities; Predictor Variables; Private International Law; Public Health; Questionnaires; risk; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Risk perception; San Francisco - epidemiology; Sociodemographics; Sociology; Southeast Asian cultural groups; t-test; Tagalog; Validity; vision disorders; Visual impairment; Visual Impairments; San Francisco; Health Disparities; Eye diseases; Filipino-American; Cultural messaging; Eye care, knowledge, attitudes, and practices
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-022-01371-3

Filipino-Americans are the third largest Asian-American population, with a median age of 44. However, there is limited literature focusing on the group’s ophthalmic care engagement. Timely eye examinations and outreach are necessary to reduce visual impairment in this older community. To assess eye care knowledge, attitudes, and practices, we conducted a cross-sectional study surveying Filipino-Americans within the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Associations between primary outcomes and sociodemographic factors were analyzed using chi-squared analysis and student’s T-test. In our convenience sample of 256 surveys, a majority of participants are receiving appropriate eye care; those that lacked health and eye insurance, immigrated and are lower income did not receive optimal eye care. Study participants also demonstrated a lack of awareness of eye diseases and risk factors. Our results suggest that culturally sensitive eye health education materials are lacking and should be made accessible for this large and rapidly growing population.