Barriers in Dental Care Utilization-An Explorative Study among Transgender Community of Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Transgenders (TGs) are one of the vulnerable groups in our society. Trans people experience substantial health disparities and barriers to appropriate health care services that keep them from achieving the highest possible health status.

The study was conducted over the course of 12 months at the Transgender Shelter Home. Focus group discussion (FGD) took place with 6-12 participants and the researcher acted as moderator. The questions were asked under four domains; sociodemographic variables, behavioral variables, medical and health status variables, and access and utilization of dental services barrier variables. Transcripts were coded and data analysis was concurrent with data collection to allow to know new insights. The data analysis was done by MAXQDA software 2022.0.0. It is being developed and distributed by VERBI Software based in Berlin, Germany.

The barriers and facilitators explored were categorized at three levels: (1) the personal level, relating to those barriers and facilitators that the individual faced for their oral health care, and the perspectives regarding the delivery of care; (2) the inter-personal level; and (3) the system level, for identifying the wider elements and their influence.

Social stigma and marginalization have been linked to adverse health effects, including personal attributes, structural and environmental factors, and personal perceptions of stigmatization.

It is evident that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities have specific but varied health care needs, and the greatest way to treat these necessities is via exposure to professional, health care coverage.