How does culture influence preventive service utilisation among Asian Indians living in the USA? A qualitative study

Abstract

Asian Indians are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the USA and are at high risk for preventable chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We describe the cultural practices of Asian Indians living in the USA to build a theory of health seeking behaviour for preventive healthcare services. We conducted in-depth qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 21 Asian Indians seen at two outpatient clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using the Constructionist Grounded Theory, we show that participants typically use primary healthcare services for urgent health problems and had been unfamiliar with routine care for disease prevention when immigrating to the USA. Participants deviated from this pattern during culturally significant life course events, such as marriage or childbirth and in response to the concerns of family members, local social network members, and primary care service providers during medical visits for urgent illnesses.