Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-024-02024-x Salud sin Fronteras: Identifying Determinants of Frequency of Healthcare Use among Mexican immigrants in Southern Arizona Adriana Maldonado 1  · Daniel E. Martinez 2  · Edgar A. Villavicencio 1  · Rebecca Crocker 3  · David O. Garcia 1 Received: 6 December 2023 / Revised: 16 April 2024 / Accepted: 8 May 2024 © W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute 2024 Abstract Background Guided by Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use (BMHSU), this study aimed to identify deter- minants of post-migration healthcare use among a sample of Mexican immigrants in a US-Mexico border region in Southern Arizona, while considering pre-migration health and healthcare experiences. Methods A non-probabilistic convenience sample of 300 adult Mexican immigrants completed a telephone survey to assess healthcare practices. Multivariable logistic regressions were fitted to determine adjusted relationships between frequency of care and predisposing, enabling, need, and contextual factors as well as personal health practices. Results Overall, participants had a 79% probability of receiving healthcare “at least once a year” after migrating to South- ern Arizona. Receiving post-migration healthcare was associated with predisposing, enabling, need, contextual factors, and personal health practices (p < 0.05). Discussion Consistent with BMHSU, our findings suggest that frequency of healthcare is not only a function of having post- migration health insurance but is also shaped by a complex array of other factors. The results of this study shed light onto potential areas to be leveraged by multifactorial sociocultural interventions to increase Mexican immigrants’ frequency of healthcare services use. Keywords Mexican immigrants · Health care services use · Hispanic health-disparities · Andersen’s Behavioral Model of health services use Background In 2022, individuals of Mexican descent represented 60% of the Hispanic population in the United States (US) [1, 2]. Among the 37.2 million US Hispanics of Mexican origin, 10.7 million (28.8%) were foreign-born as of 2021, 62% of whom had been in the US for over 20 years [1]. Moreover, among the foreign-born Mexican population, 35% are US citizens, while approximately 45% are undocumented [1, 3]. Despite rapid growth and growing recognition of this sub- population, Mexican immigrants are 18% more likely to have limited access to care [4, 5] and undocumented immigrants are 45% more likely to be uninsured, compared to US citi- zens [6]. This is concerning, as Mexican-origin individuals are disproportionately impacted by chronic health conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes (T2D) that require constant treatment from healthcare providers [7]. Healthcare services use is a complex behavioral phe- nomenon influenced by the multiple social disadvantages faced by Mexican-origin individuals, including limited edu- cational attainment, inadequate health insurance coverage, and financial difficulties [8–10]. In addition, immigration status has been deemed as one of the strongest predictors of access to care. While first-generation Mexican immigrants are less likely to access and utilize healthcare services than US-born Mexican-Americans, undocumented individuals are 27% less likely to have had a doctor visit in the past year and 35% less likely to have had a regular source of care; [11–14] with fears of discrimination or legal repercussions * Adriana Maldonado adrianamaldonado@arizona.edu 1 Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA 2 College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Sociology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA 3 University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA