Dataset Information

Health and healthcare disparities among U.S. women and men at the intersection of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: Research has shown that sexual minorities (SMs) (e.g. lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals), compared to their heterosexual counterparts, may engage in riskier health behaviors, are at higher risk of some adverse health outcomes, and are more likely to experience reduced health care access and utilization. However, few studies have examined how the interplay between race and sexual orientation impacts a range of health measures in a nationally representative sample of the U.S.To address these gaps in the literature, we sought to investigate associations between sexual orientation identity and health/healthcare outcomes among U.S. women and men within and across racial/ethnic groups. Using 2013-2015 National Health Interview Survey data (N?=?91,913) we employed Poisson regression with robust variance to directly estimate prevalence ratios (PR) comparing health and healthcare outcomes among SMs of color to heterosexuals of color and white heterosexuals, stratified by gender and adjusting for potential confounders.The sample consisted of 52% women, with approximately 2% of each sex identifying as SMs. Compared to their heterosexual counterparts, white (PR?=?1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.45]) and black (1.54 [1.07, 2.20]) SM women were more likely to report heavy drinking. Hispanic/Latino SM women and men were more likely to experience short sleep duration compared to white heterosexual women (1.33 [1.06, 1.66]) and men (1.51 [1.21, 1.90). Black SM women had a much higher prevalence of stroke compared to black heterosexual women (3.25 [1.63, 6.49]) and white heterosexual women (4.51 [2.16, 9.39]). White SM women were more likely than white heterosexual women to be obese (1.31 [1.15, 1.48]), report cancer (1.40 [1.07, 1.82]) and report stroke (1.91 [1.16, 3.15]. White (2.41 [2.24, 2.59]), black (1.40[1.20, 1.63]), and Hispanic/Latino SM (2.17 [1.98, 2.37]) men were more likely to have been tested for HIV than their heterosexual counterparts.Sexual minorities had a higher prevalence of some poor health behaviors, health outcomes, and healthcare access issues, and these disparities differed across racial groups. Further research is needed to investigate potential pathways, such as discrimination, in the social environment that may help explain the relationship between sexual orientation and health.

SUBMITTER: Trinh MH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5735619 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Health and healthcare disparities among U.S. women and men at the intersection of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.

Trinh Mai-Han MH Agénor Madina M Austin S Bryn SB Jackson Chandra L CL

BMC public health 20171219 1

<h4>Background</h4>Research has shown that sexual minorities (SMs) (e.g. lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals), compared to their heterosexual counterparts, may engage in riskier health behaviors, are at higher risk of some adverse health outcomes, and are more likely to experience reduced health care access and utilization. However, few studies have examined how the interplay between race and sexual orientation impacts a range of health measures in a nationally representative sample of the U. ...[more]

PMID: 29258470

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Project description:The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread social, psychological, and economic impacts. However, these impacts are not distributed equally: already marginalized populations, specifically racial/ethnic minority groups and sexual and gender minority populations, may be more likely to suffer the effects of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Resiliency Survey was conducted by the city of Chicago to assess the impact of COVID-19 on city residents in the wake of Chicago's initial lockdown, with particular focus on the experiences of minority populations. Chi-square tests of independence were performed to compare COVID-19-related outcomes and impacts on heterosexual vs. sexual minority populations, cisgender vs. gender minority populations, and White vs. racial/ethnic minority subgroups. Marginalized populations experienced significant disparities in COVID-19 exposure, susceptibility, and treatment access, as well as in psychosocial effects of the pandemic. Notably, Black and Latinx populations reported significant difficulties accessing food and supplies (p = 0.002). Healthcare access disparities were also visible, with Black and Latinx respondents reporting significantly lower levels of access to a provider to see if COVID-19 testing would be appropriate (p = 0.013), medical services (p = 0.001), and use of telehealth for mental health services (p = 0.001). Sexual minority respondents reported significantly lower rates of using telehealth for mental health services (p = 0.011), and gender minority respondents reported significantly lower levels of primary care provider access (p = 0.016). There are evident COVID-19 disparities experienced in Chicago especially for Black, Latinx, sexual minority, and gender minority groups. A greater focus must be paid to health equity, including providing increased resources and supplies for affected groups, adapting to inequities in the built environment, and ensuring adequate access to healthcare services to ameliorate the burden of COVID-19 on these marginalized populations.

Project description:BackgroundWhile mass media communications can be an important source of health information, there are substantial social disparities in health knowledge that may be related to media use. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of cancer-related health communications is patterned by race, ethnicity, language, and social class.Methodology/principal findingsIn a nationally-representative cross-sectional telephone survey, 5,187 U.S. adults provided information about demographic characteristics, cancer information seeking, and attention to and trust in health information from television, radio, newspaper, magazines, and the Internet. Cancer information seeking was lowest among Spanish-speaking Hispanics (odds ratio: 0.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.28-0.63) compared to non-Hispanic whites. Spanish-speaking Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to pay attention to (odds ratio: 3.10; 95% confidence interval: 2.07-4.66) and trust (odds ratio: 2.61; 95% confidence interval: 1.53-4.47) health messages from the radio. Non-Hispanic blacks were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to pay attention to (odds ratio: 2.39; 95% confidence interval: 1.88-3.04) and trust (odds ratio: 2.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.61-2.90) health messages on television. Those who were college graduates tended to pay more attention to health information from newspapers (odds ratio: 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.42-2.75), magazines (odds ratio: 1.86; 95% confidence interval: 1.32-2.60), and the Internet (odds ratio: 4.74; 95% confidence interval: 2.70-8.31) and had less trust in cancer-related health information from television (odds ratio: 0.44; 95% confidence interval: 0.32-0.62) and radio (odds ratio: 0.54; 95% confidence interval: 0.34-0.86) compared to those who were not high school graduates.Conclusions/significanceHealth media use is patterned by race, ethnicity, language and social class. Providing greater access to and enhancing the quality of health media by taking into account factors associated with social determinants may contribute to addressing social disparities in health.

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Dataset Information

Health and healthcare disparities among U.S. women and men at the intersection of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.

Publications

Health and healthcare disparities among U.S. women and men at the intersection of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.

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