Insufficient health care access in American minorities with or at high risk for knee osteoarthritis: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative

Background: Access to health care (HC) in American minorities with or at high risk for knee osteoarthritis (OA) is indistinct. The current study aims to address this gap. Methods: : Data of Americans (n =4,674) aged 45–79 years with or at elevated risk for knee OA were fetched from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Participants were categorized into Caucasians and American minorities based on their racial and ethnic background. Results: : American minorities had insufficient access to HC than did Caucasians (9% vs. 2% were uninsured with no health care coverage (HCC), p <.0001 , while 6% vs. 9% had only HCC, p <.0001 ). A multinomial regression analysis shows that less than <50,000 American dollar annual income was more likely associated with insufficient access to HC (odds ratio [OR] = 3.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.25—6.51) in American minorities than Caucasians (OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.50—2.48). Conclusion: American minorities had insufficient access to HC than did Caucasians. The less annual income was highly influenced by insufficient access to HC in this population.