Exposure to Childhood Healthcare Discrimination and Healthcare Avoidance among Transgender and Gender Independent Adults during a Global Pandemic.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 19(12)2022 06 17.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1896871
ABSTRACT
Transgender and gender-independent individuals (TGI) encounter myriad barriers to accessing affirming healthcare. Healthcare discrimination and erasure exposure among TGI individuals is vital to understanding healthcare accessibility, utilization behaviors, and health disparities in this population. Exposure to gender identity-related healthcare discrimination and erasure in childhood may contribute to TGI adults' healthcare utilization behaviors. The commonality of childhood exposure to gender identity-related healthcare discrimination and its relationship to healthcare avoidance during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic among TGI adults were explored. TGI adults aged 18 to 59 (N = 342) in the United States were recruited online during the summer of 2020. Among individuals who reported childhood exposure to gender identity-related healthcare discrimination, 51% reported experiencing two or more distinct forms of discrimination. Hierarchical logistic regression indicated that exposure to healthcare discrimination in childhood significantly increased the odds of healthcare avoidance during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, after accounting for demographic factors and self-reported COVID-19 symptoms (odds ratio = 1.30, 95% confidence interval = 1.10, 1.54). These findings suggest that childhood exposure to gender identity-related healthcare discrimination is a prominent barrier to the utilization of healthcare for TGI adults, even during a global pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Transgender Persons
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph19127440
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