Health information technology use among foreign-born adults of Middle Eastern and North African decent in the United States

Abstract

Health information technology (HIT) use among foreign-born adults of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent living in America is an understudied population. They are currently categorized as "White" in the United States (US) on federal forms. The purpose was to uncover the prevalence of HIT use among MENA immigrants compared to US- and foreign-born White adults before and after adjusting for other factors. The 2011-2018 National Health Interview Survey data (n = 161,613; ages 18 + years) was analyzed. HIT uses evaluated were searching for health information, filling prescriptions, scheduling appointments, and communicating with healthcare providers via email (last 12 months). Crude and multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of each HIT use, any HIT use, and all HIT uses before and after adjustment. The most common HIT use was looking up health information, with 46.4% of foreign-born adults of MENA, 47.8% of foreign-born White, and 51.2% of US-born White adults reporting its use (p = .0079). Foreign-born adults of MENA descent had lower odds (OR = 0.64; 95%CI = 0.56-0.74) of reporting any HIT use, but no difference in reporting all HIT uses compared to US-born White adults in adjusted models. This is the first study to explore HIT use among Americans of MENA descent. Patterns of HIT use among adults of MENA descent differ from White adults. Results contribute to growing body of literature showing the health of Americans of MENA descent differs from White Americans. A separate racial/ethnic identifier is needed to better capture HIT uses among populations of MENA descent.

Keywords: Arab American; Health information technology; Middle Eastern and North African; National Health Interview Survey.