Study: More than a fourth of Latinos don’t visit doctors

A new report from the Pew Hispanic Center found that 28 percent of Latinos did not receive medical information from a physician in the past year and a similar percentage do not have a regular doctor (Source: "One-fourth of Latinos don't have doctors, study finds," Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 13, 2008).

At the same time, about 83 percent of Latinos get health information from sources such as television, radio, print media and the Internet, according the study. While undocumented Latinos with no insurance and little education are most likely to not visit a doctor, the study found that 22 percent of U.S.-born Latinos do not have a regular doctor. In addition, half of those without a regular doctor are at least high school graduates and 45 percent have insurance coverage.

Among the reasons Latinos give for not having a doctor are that they are seldom sick and don’t need one, lack of insurance, the high cost of care and trouble navigating the health care system in the United States.

"For individuals who have chronic illnesses, this is a very serious problem," said William Vega, a professor of family medicine at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.