Health-Seeking Behavior of Afghan Women Immigrants: An Ethnographic Study.
BACKGROUND
Nowadays, in light of gender inequity, new concern has been raised for health-seeking behavior of women in clinical setting. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions and health-seeking behaviors of Afghan immigrant women residing in Mashhad, Iran.


METHOD
An ethnographic design was used to examine the health-seeking behavior of Afghan women. This study took place in Tollab Tabarsi area of Mashhad, Iran, from March 2013 to July 2014. For gathering of data, participant observations, fieldwork, and formal interviews were included. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.


RESULTS
Fourteen Afghan women immigrants and five health care professionals were interviewed. The overarching category derived from the data was gender inequity. The emergent three themes were cultural taboos, women position, and information gap.


DISCUSSIONS
The displaced Afghan women were found to be at significant risk of adverse health events, which affected both their physical health and mental health.
['Amiri|Rana|R|0000-0003-2898-5422', 'King|Kathryn M|KM|', 'Heydari|Abbas|A|', 'Dehghan-Nayeri|Nahid|N|', 'Vedadhir|Abu Ali|AA|']
D000328:Adult D000346:Afghanistan D000884:Anthropology, Cultural D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants D005260:Female D006282:Health Personnel D000066505:Help-Seeking Behavior D006801:Humans D007492:Iran D008875:Middle Aged
health-seeking behavior Afghan women immigrants gender inequality