Does Discrimination Affect Whether Transgender People Avoid or Delay Healthcare? A Nationwide Cross-sectional Survey in South Korea

Hyemin Lee, Don Operario, Horim Yi, Sungsub Choo, Ji Hwan Kim, Seung Sup Kim

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    14 Citations (Scopus)

    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 languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)170-177
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of Immigrant and Minority Health
    Volume24
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2022 Feb

    Bibliographical note

    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

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