The Role of Health Insurance Type and Clinic Visit on Hypertension Status Among Multiethnic Chicago Residents

To investigate the joint relationship of health insurance and clinic visit with hypertension among underserved populations.

Population-based cohort study.

Data from 1092 participants from the Chicago Multiethnic Prevention and Surveillance Study (COMPASS) between 2013 and 2020 were analyzed.

Five health insurance types were included: uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare, private, and other. Clinic visit over past 12 months were retrieved from medical records and categorized into 4 groups: no clinic visit, 1-3 visits, 4-7 visits, >7 visits.

Inverse-probability weighted logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for hypertension status according to health insurance and clinic visit. Models were adjusted for individual socio-demographic variables and medical history.

The study population was predominantly Black (>85%) of low socioeconomic status. Health insurance was not associated with more clinic visit. Measured hypertension was more frequently found in private insurance (OR = 6.48, 95% CI: 1.92-21.85) compared to the uninsured group, while 1-3 clinic visits were associated with less prevalence (OR = .59, 95% CI: .35-1.00) compared to no clinic visit. These associations remained unchanged when health insurance and clinic visit were adjusted for each other.

In this study population, private insurance was associated with higher measured hypertension prevalence compared to no insurance. The associations of health insurance and clinic visit were independent of each other.