Publication Date
12-1-2022
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
Volume
19
Issue
4
DOI
10.1007/s13178-022-00748-1
First Page
1717
Last Page
1730
Abstract
Introduction: This study examined whether past experiences of mistreatment in healthcare were associated with greater healthcare avoidance due to anticipated mistreatment among gender minority (GM) people. We evaluated whether state-level healthcare policy protections moderated this relationship. Methods: Data from the 2018 Annual Questionnaire of The PRIDE Study, a national longitudinal study on sexual and gender minority people’s health, were used in these analyses. Logistic regression modeling tested relationships between lifetime healthcare mistreatment due to gender identity or expression and past-year healthcare avoidance due to anticipated mistreatment among GM participants. Interactions between lifetime healthcare mistreatment and state-level healthcare policy protections and their relationship with past-year healthcare avoidance were tested. Results: Participants reporting any lifetime healthcare mistreatment had greater odds of past-year healthcare avoidance due to anticipated mistreatment among gender expansive people (n = 1290, OR = 4.71 [CI]: 3.57–6.20), transfeminine people (n = 263, OR = 10.32 [CI]: 4.72–22.59), and transmasculine people (n = 471, OR = 3.90 [CI]: 2.50–6.13). Presence of state-level healthcare policy protections did not moderate this relationship in any study groups. Conclusions: For GM people, reporting lifetime healthcare mistreatment was associated with healthcare avoidance due to anticipated mistreatment. State-level healthcare policy protections were not a moderating factor in this relationship. Efforts to evaluate the implementation and enforcement of state-level policies are needed. Continued efforts to understand instances of and to diminish healthcare mistreatment of GM people are recommended.
Funding Number
K23DA039800
Funding Sponsor
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Keywords
Gender minority, Health policy, Healthcare access, LGBTQ, Social determinants of health
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Kristen D. Clark, Sean Luong, Mitchell R. Lunn, Elena Flowers, Esmaeil Bahalkeh, Micah E. Lubensky, Matthew R. Capriotti, Juno Obedin-Maliver, and Annesa Flentje. "Healthcare Mistreatment, State-Level Policy Protections, and Healthcare Avoidance Among Gender Minority People" Sexuality Research and Social Policy (2022): 1717-1730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00748-1
