{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T05:09:46Z","timestamp":1778821786994,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778803200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in the United States, but treatment utilization varies substantially across racial and ethnic groups. Asian adults are known to underutilize mental health services despite experiencing psychological distress, but evidence on medication-specific patterns remains limited. The goal of this study is to quantify differences in anxiety medication use, especially among Asian Americans, and to evaluate the factors associated with their lower use of medication for anxiety disorders.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We analyzed data from the 2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS;\n                      <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f29,466) using survey-weighted logistic regression models to estimate population-level associations. Adults who reported having ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f5,431) made up the initial eligible group. After excluding respondents without complete data, 3,118 adults remained in the full analytic sample used for survey-weighted logistic regression models 1 and 2. A separate sub-sample of Non-Hispanic Asian adults with complete data (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f87) was analyzed independently.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Medication use varied significantly by race. Non-Hispanic White adults reported the highest use (64.3%), while Asian adults reported the lowest (45.1%), despite having a history of anxiety disorder. In fully adjusted models, Asian adults had significantly lower odds of medication use compared with White adults (OR\u202f=\u202f0.55, 95% CI [0.32, 0.93],\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). Race \u00d7 age interactions were not statistically significant, but predicted probability plots showed a declining trend of medication use with age among Asian adults, contrasting with increasing use among White adults. Subsample analyses of Asian adults showed few significant predictors due to the small sample size, although higher income was linked to increased medication use.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Asian adults in the United States have significantly lower odds of anxiety medication use. Findings highlight ongoing disparities that may stem from cultural stigma, structural barriers, and unequal access to mental health care. Targeted efforts to provide culturally responsive anxiety treatments for Asian communities are necessary.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1803386","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T04:28:46Z","timestamp":1778819326000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Patterns and predictors of anxiety medication use among United States adults: a national analysis with a focus on racial disparities in the Asian population"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Jingjing","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health","place":["Houston, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Muinat Abolore","family":"Idris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health","place":["Houston, TX, United States"]},{"name":"Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston","place":["Houston, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sung In H.","family":"Kim-Vences","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine","place":["Houston, TX, United States"]},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine","place":["Houston, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jason H.","family":"Windett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Data Science, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Public Policy Ph.D. Program, University of North Carolina at Charlotte","place":["Charlotte, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2431","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2022.22744","article-title":"Anxiety disorders: a review","volume":"328","author":"Szuhany","year":"2022","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.15620\/cdc\/64018","article-title":"Symptoms of anxiety and depression among adults: United States, 2019 and 2022","author":"Terlizzi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Natl Health Stat Rep"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"592","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jadohealth.2024.11.244","article-title":"Mental health and care utilization among sexual and gender minority youth by race and ethnicity. 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