Mental health and access to care among refugee mothers relocated to San Diego: a comparative study of Iraqi and Somali refugee communities

Journal of International Humanitarian Action

Table 2 Health care access and perceptions of mental health among the study participants

Health care access variable	Iraqi (N = 219)	Somali (N = 198)	P value
Usual venue to seek care when ill
Doctor’s office/private clinic Community health center/public clinic Hospital, ER, other / No regular place, don’t know	43 (19.63) 168 (76.71) 8 (3.65)	162 (81.82) 25 (12.63) 11 (5.56)	< 0.001
Regular doctor/nurse/midwife
Yes No Don’t know	200 (91.32) 17 (7.76) 2 (0.91)	176 (88.89) 17 (8.59) 5 (2.53)	0.414
Time in last 12 months when postponed med care
Yes No Don’t know	67 (30.59) 152 (69.41) 0 (0.00)	73 (36.87) 105 (53.03) 20 (10.10)	< 0.001
Of those who postponed med care, it was because of
Cost Some other reason Don’t know Refused	8 (11.94) 55 (82.10) 3 (4.48) 1 (1.49)	13 (17.81) 48 (65.75) 12 (16.44) 0 (0.00)	0.046
Went to a mental health care provider when you needed to
Yes No Did not need to Refused Don’t know	40 (18.26) 47 (21.15) 132 (60.27) 0 (0.00) 0 (0.00)	124 (62.63) 36 (18.18) 17 (8.59) 5 (2.53) 16 (8.08)	< 0.001
Stigma^a
No Yes	39 (82.98) 8 (17.02)	35 (97.22) 1 (2.63)	0.086

^aThe participant was classified as having a stigma against mental health care based on responding both (1) “no” to whether they had seen a mental health care provider when they needed to and (2) the reason for it being: “I was afraid my family would know about it” or “I was afraid my friends, and larger community here would know about it.”