Rivera José O, Ortiz Melchor, Cardenas Victor
University of Texas at El Paso CHS, El Paso, Texas, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2009 Feb;101(2):167-73. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30831-2.
We examined data from a US-Mexico bi-national survey conducted among adult residents of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to assess frequency of purchase of medications and use of health care services across the border.
We analyzed questionnaire data from face-to-face interviews of 1000 randomly selected adults on both sides of the border to assess prevalence and prevalence ratios using log binomial logistic regression analysis.
One-third of adult residents of El Paso and 5% of those in Ciudad Juarez reported crossing the border to purchase medications (P < .001). Lack of health insurance in the United States was associated with crossing the border to purchase medications. Nine percent and 7% of US residents traveled to Mexico seeking dental and medical care, respectively. Mexican nationals traveling to the United States to purchase medications or health care services were more likely to be uninsured and more-educated men.
US residents of areas along the border in close proximity to Mexico often travel south to purchase medications. Other health care services are also utilized, although at lower rates. These patterns may be attributed to a number of barriers to health care in the United States.
我们研究了在美国得克萨斯州埃尔帕索市和墨西哥华雷斯城的成年居民中开展的一项美墨双边调查的数据，以评估跨境购买药品的频率和医疗服务的使用情况。
我们分析了从边境两侧随机抽取的1000名成年人的面对面访谈问卷数据，采用对数二项逻辑回归分析来评估患病率和患病率比。
埃尔帕索市三分之一的成年居民以及华雷斯城5%的成年居民报告称会跨境购买药品（P < .001）。在美国没有医疗保险与跨境购买药品有关。9%的美国居民前往墨西哥寻求牙科护理，7%的美国居民前往墨西哥寻求医疗护理。前往美国购买药品或医疗服务的墨西哥国民更有可能是未参保且受教育程度较高的男性。
美国与墨西哥接壤边境地区的居民经常前往南方购买药品。其他医疗服务也有人使用，尽管使用率较低。这些模式可能归因于美国医疗保健方面的一些障碍。
