Asian Health Services, Oakland, CA, United States.
Department of Population Health Section for Health Equity, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Jun 11;7(6):e23976. doi: 10.2196/23976.
The diverse Asian American population has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to limited data and other factors, disparities experienced by this population are hidden.
This study aims to describe the Asian American community's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, California, and to better inform a Federally Qualified Health Center's (FQHC) health care services and response to challenges faced by the community.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey between May 20 and June 23, 2020, using a multipronged recruitment approach, including word-of-mouth, FQHC patient appointments, and social media posts. The survey was self-administered online or administered over the phone by FQHC staff in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. Survey question topics included COVID-19 testing and preventative behaviors, economic impacts of COVID-19, experience with perceived mistreatment due to their race/ethnicity, and mental health challenges.
Among 1297 Asian American respondents, only 3.1% (39/1273) had previously been tested for COVID-19, and 46.6% (392/841) stated that they could not find a place to get tested. In addition, about two-thirds of respondents (477/707) reported feeling stressed, and 22.6% (160/707) reported feeling depressed. Furthermore, 5.6% (72/1275) of respondents reported being treated unfairly because of their race/ethnicity. Among respondents who experienced economic impacts from COVID-19, 32.2% (246/763) had lost their regular jobs and 22.5% (172/763) had reduced hours or reduced income. Additionally, 70.1% (890/1269) of respondents shared that they avoid leaving their home to go to public places (eg, grocery stores, church, and school).
We found that Asian Americans had lower levels of COVID-19 testing and limited access to testing, a high prevalence of mental health issues and economic impacts, and a high prevalence of risk-avoidant behaviors (eg, not leaving the house) in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings provide preliminary insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Asian American communities served by an FQHC and underscore the longstanding need for culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to providing mental health, outreach, and education services. These findings led to the establishment of the first Asian multilingual and multicultural COVID-19 testing sites in the local area where the study was conducted, and laid the groundwork for subsequent COVID-19 programs, specifically contact tracing and vaccination programs.
不同族裔的亚裔美国人受到了 COVID-19 大流行的影响，但由于数据有限和其他因素，该人群所经历的差异被掩盖了。
本研究旨在描述 COVID-19 大流行期间亚裔美国人社区的经历，重点是加利福尼亚州旧金山湾区，并更好地为一家合格的联邦医疗机构（FQHC）的医疗服务提供信息，并应对社区面临的挑战。
我们于 2020 年 5 月 20 日至 6 月 23 日期间采用多管齐下的招募方法（包括口口相传、FQHC 患者预约和社交媒体帖子）进行了横断面调查。该调查采用自我管理的在线或 FQHC 工作人员通过英语、粤语、普通话和越南语进行电话管理的方式进行。调查问题主题包括 COVID-19 检测和预防行为、COVID-19 对经济的影响、因种族/族裔而遭受的不当待遇的经历以及心理健康挑战。
在 1297 名亚裔美国受访者中，仅有 3.1%（39/1273）曾接受过 COVID-19 检测，而 46.6%（392/841）表示他们找不到检测地点。此外，约三分之二的受访者（477/707）表示感到压力大，22.6%（160/707）表示感到沮丧。此外，5.6%（72/1275）的受访者报告因种族/族裔而受到不公平待遇。在因 COVID-19 而遭受经济影响的受访者中，32.2%（246/763）失去了固定工作，22.5%（172/763）工作时间减少或收入减少。此外，70.1%（890/1269）的受访者表示他们避免离开家去公共场所（例如杂货店、教堂和学校）。
我们发现，亚裔美国人 COVID-19 检测率较低，检测机会有限，心理健康问题和经济影响普遍存在，并且在 COVID-19 大流行的早期阶段存在高风险回避行为（例如，不离开家）。这些发现初步揭示了 COVID-19 大流行对接受 FQHC 服务的亚裔美国社区的影响，并强调了长期以来需要采取文化和语言适当的方法来提供心理健康、外展和教育服务。这些发现促成了当地首个亚裔多语种和多元文化 COVID-19 检测点的建立，并为随后的 COVID-19 计划（特别是接触者追踪和疫苗接种计划）奠定了基础。
