Interpersonal Health Care Discrimination and Delayed Alcohol Use Treatment Among Sexual Minority Adults With Multiple...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Discrimination and prejudice heighten alcohol use-related harm risks for sexual minority (SM) individuals.
• Healthcare discrimination can impede help-seeking and treatment engagement among SM populations.
• Previous research often examined single forms of discrimination, neglecting intersectional impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between interpersonal healthcare discrimination and delayed alcohol use treatment among SM adults.
• To apply an intersectional stigma lens to understand how multiple stigmatized identities influence treatment access.
• To examine discrimination based on sexual orientation, race-ethnicity, or both in relation to delayed alcohol use treatment.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N=3,201).
• Focused on a nationally representative sample of SM adults.
• Employed multivariable logistic regression to analyze factors associated with delayed alcohol use treatment.

Main Results:

• 18.9% of SM adults experienced interpersonal healthcare discrimination; 9.2% delayed alcohol use treatment.
• Delayed treatment was more common in SM adults compared to the general population with alcohol use.
• Individuals reporting both sexual orientation and racial-ethnic discrimination had over double the odds of delayed treatment (AOR=2.38).

Conclusions:

• Intersectional stigma significantly compounds delays in alcohol use treatment for marginalized SM adults.
• Healthcare interventions must address intersectional stigma to improve treatment engagement.
• Targeted strategies are crucial for engaging marginalized subpopulations of SM adults in alcohol use treatment.