Self-Reported Barriers to Care Among Sexual and Gender Minority People With Disabilities: Findings From The PRIDE Study, 2019–2020

Abstract

Objectives. To examine the associations of self-reported disability status with health care access barriers for sexual and gender minority (SGM) people. Methods. The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study participants lived in the United States or its territories, completed the 2019 annual questionnaire (n = 4961), and self-reported their disability and health care access experiences, including whether they had a primary care provider, were uninsured, delayed care, and were unable to obtain care. We classified disabilities as physical, mental, intellectual, and other; compared participants to those without disabilities; and performed logistic regression to determine the associations of disability status and health care access barriers. Results. SGM people with disabilities were less likely to have a usual place to seek health care (69.0% vs 75.3%; P ≤ .001) and more often reported being mistreated or disrespected as reasons to delay care (29.0% vs 10.2%; P ≤ .001). SGM people with disabilities were more likely to delay care (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.28; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.83, 3.81) and be unable to obtain care (AOR = 3.10; 95% CI = 2.59, 3.71). Conclusions. Future work should address culturally competent health care to ameliorate disparities for the SGM disability community. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(9):1009–1018. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307333 )