J Am Coll Health. 2003 Mar; 51(5): 189-94.

Health beliefs of college students born in the United States, China, and India.

Rothstein WG, Rajapaksa S.

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 21250, USA. rothstei@umbc.edu

The authors surveyed 243 urban public university students who were born in the United States, China, and India to compare the health beliefs of the China-born, India-born, and US-born students. Although the China- and India-born students shared beliefs in many preventive and therapeutic practices of Western medicine with the US-born students, they retained some of their traditional health beliefs. This suggests that student health service clinicians should assess students' cultural beliefs and individualize healthcare for students from different countries.