Abstract
This study examined the association between perceived discrimination and healthcare avoidance and delay (HAD) among transgender adults in South Korea (hereafter Korea). We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 244 Korean transgender adults in 2017. Discrimination within the last 12 months was categorized into four groups based on the reason(s) of discrimination experienced: (1) ‘never experienced' discrimination, (2) ‘only due to transgender identity,' (3) ‘due to reason(s) other than transgender identity,' and (4) ‘due to both transgender identity and other reason(s).' Korean transgender adults who experienced discrimination ‘only due to transgender identity’ and ‘due to both transgender identity and other reason(s)’ reported 1.91-times (95% CI 1.02–3.55) and 1.96-times (95% CI 1.32–2.92) higher prevalence of past 12-month HAD, respectively, than those who had no such experiences. Our findings suggest that institutional efforts are needed to protect transgender people from discrimination, which can contribute to improved access to healthcare among transgender populations in Korea.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 170-177 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 Feb |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was funded by a Daum storyfunding project, “Our Transgender Health Study Journey Begins” and by Engineers and Scientists for Change as its first crowdfunding project. This work was also supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020S1A5A2A01045197) and the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2020R1A6A3A13060799). The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the professionals at the four healthcare institutions involved in data collection. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge the Korean Transgender Rights Organization JOGAKBO and the numerous volunteer consultants for their help with survey questionnaire development as well as participant recruitment. We also appreciate the transgender individuals who participated in our study.
Funding Information:
This study was funded by a Daum storyfunding project, “Our Transgender Health Study Journey Begins” and by Engineers and Scientists for Change as its first crowdfunding project. This work was also supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020S1A5A2A01045197) and the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2020R1A6A3A13060799). The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the professionals at the four healthcare institutions involved in data collection. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge the Korean Transgender Rights Organization JOGAKBO and the numerous volunteer consultants for their help with survey questionnaire development as well as participant recruitment. We also appreciate the transgender individuals who participated in our study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords
- Access to healthcare
- Discrimination
- Healthcare avoidance and delay
- South Korea
- Transgender individuals
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
