Primary Submission Category: Health care/services
Healthcare experiences and satisfaction among rural LGBTQ+ individuals
Authors: Wiley Jenkins Kyle Miller Heather Tillewein Suzan Walters Taryn Weatherly Hannah Wickham Georgia Luckey Emma Fenner
Presenting Author: Wiley Jenkins*
LGBTQ+ individuals experience significant health and healthcare disparities, which may be exacerbated in more conservative rural areas. Previous work has indicated lower healthcare satisfaction among LGBTQ+, but the association between care quality and health is poorly understood.
The 2022 Illinois Cohort recruited 84 LGBTQ+ individuals across 20 largely rural counties, and participants completed surveys regarding health and healthcare satisfaction. Identity was organized as cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary; and orientation as gay, lesbian, and bisexual (plus others). Data were analyzed by t-test, chi-square and logistic regression.
Participant mean age was 42.1 [s.d.13.7] years; gender identity was 49.4% cisgender, 25.9% transgender, and 24.7% nonbinary; orientation was 35.3% gay, 16.5% lesbian, and 47.1% bisexual; and 90.6% had attained at least some college education. Respectful treatment from clinicians and staff was low across identity and orientation (‘Yes’ ranging from 50-79%), but more often reported among those with good/excellent health: clinician respect at 76.0% vs 50.0% fair/poor health; p=0.034; and staff respect at 75.5% vs 48.1; p=0.021. Comparing our data with national rural LGBTQ+ surveillance data indicates more days of poor physical and mental health; with participants reporting any past month days of poor physical health by orientation at 59-80% by orientation (vs 32-48% national) and 54-81% by identity (vs 44-51%), with similar finding for any days of poor mental health at 79-100% by orientation (vs 48-58%) and 85-95% by identity (vs 39-63%).
LGBTQ+ individuals face health disparities which may be exacerbated in rural areas. Our data indicates a strong association between general health and respectful treatment, and increased frequency of poor health days in IL versus national. As rural areas have fewer healthcare options, it is incumbent upon providers to ensure that they and their staff consistently treat all patients with respect.