Healthcare utilization among Hispanic immigrants with diabetes: investigating the effect of US documentation status.

Previous studies have not examined whether documentation status has an effect on healthcare utilization among US Hispanic immigrants with diabetes. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Pew Hispanic Center and Robert Johnson Wood Foundation's 2007 Hispanic Healthcare Survey. Hispanic immigrants diagnosed with diabetes were included in analyses. The association between documentation status and healthcare utilization was assessed using logistic regressions. Of N = 577 Hispanic immigrants with diabetes, 80 % were documented immigrants and 81% reported having visited a healthcare provider in the last 6 months. Adjusting for confounders, those who were undocumented faced higher odds of having seen a healthcare provider more than 6 months ago or never when compared to those who were documented (OR = 1.79; 95% CI 1.01, 3.14). Unique opportunities in addressing healthcare disparities can be found in focusing on the Hispanic immigrant population living with diabetes.