Cargando…

Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study

BACKGROUND: Internationally, there is evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT persons) have poorer health outcomes than the heterosexual or cisgender population. In addition, LGBT populations face more frequent and unique healthcare access barriers. Barriers to healthcare...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pfister, A, Krüger, P, Eder, M
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10597051/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.754
_version_ 1785125250831220736
author Pfister, A
Krüger, P
Eder, M
author_facet Pfister, A
Krüger, P
Eder, M
author_sort Pfister, A
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Internationally, there is evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT persons) have poorer health outcomes than the heterosexual or cisgender population. In addition, LGBT populations face more frequent and unique healthcare access barriers. Barriers to healthcare among LGBT persons in Switzerland remained undocumented until recently, when the Swiss Federal Council mandated a report describing the health and healthcare access of LGBT persons, and related health inequalities. METHODS: Two data sets were included in analyses: (1) two waves of the representative Swiss Health Survey (SHS 2012, 2017) n = 29,793, ages 16 to 74, including 858 LGB persons, and (2) data from a non-representative national online survey (May to July 2021), including 1,542 LGB cisgender and 522 transgender persons, ages 15 to 81. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (e.g. binary logistic regression), controlling for potential confounding factors (e.g. year of study, age), using the Health Equity Promotion Model as a conceptual framework. RESULTS: The most significant areas of health inequalities across the groups of interest were mental health, experienced discrimination and violence, healthcare access barriers, substance use, and sexual health. For example, LGB persons experienced significantly higher rates of depression (16.0% vs. 7.4%; p<.001) and suicide attempts (11.0% vs. 3.3%; p<.001) compared to the heterosexual population. Additionally, LGB persons abstained from seeking medical care significantly more often than heterosexual persons (16.2% vs. 6.9%, respectively) due to a lack of trust in the healthcare system. CONCLUSIONS: Besides targeted action in the identified (health) areas, a Health in All Policies Approach is needed to improve the lives and health of LGBT people in Switzerland by diminishing stigmatization and discrimination, and by implementing LGBT inclusive and specific protocols in healthcare and other settings.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10597051
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher Oxford University Press
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-105970512023-10-25 Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study Pfister, A Krüger, P Eder, M Eur J Public Health Parallel Programme BACKGROUND: Internationally, there is evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT persons) have poorer health outcomes than the heterosexual or cisgender population. In addition, LGBT populations face more frequent and unique healthcare access barriers. Barriers to healthcare among LGBT persons in Switzerland remained undocumented until recently, when the Swiss Federal Council mandated a report describing the health and healthcare access of LGBT persons, and related health inequalities. METHODS: Two data sets were included in analyses: (1) two waves of the representative Swiss Health Survey (SHS 2012, 2017) n = 29,793, ages 16 to 74, including 858 LGB persons, and (2) data from a non-representative national online survey (May to July 2021), including 1,542 LGB cisgender and 522 transgender persons, ages 15 to 81. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (e.g. binary logistic regression), controlling for potential confounding factors (e.g. year of study, age), using the Health Equity Promotion Model as a conceptual framework. RESULTS: The most significant areas of health inequalities across the groups of interest were mental health, experienced discrimination and violence, healthcare access barriers, substance use, and sexual health. For example, LGB persons experienced significantly higher rates of depression (16.0% vs. 7.4%; p<.001) and suicide attempts (11.0% vs. 3.3%; p<.001) compared to the heterosexual population. Additionally, LGB persons abstained from seeking medical care significantly more often than heterosexual persons (16.2% vs. 6.9%, respectively) due to a lack of trust in the healthcare system. CONCLUSIONS: Besides targeted action in the identified (health) areas, a Health in All Policies Approach is needed to improve the lives and health of LGBT people in Switzerland by diminishing stigmatization and discrimination, and by implementing LGBT inclusive and specific protocols in healthcare and other settings. Oxford University Press 2023-10-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10597051/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.754 Text en © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Parallel Programme
Pfister, A
Krüger, P
Eder, M
Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study
title Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study
title_full Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study
title_fullStr Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study
title_full_unstemmed Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study
title_short Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study
title_sort health inequalities of lgbt persons in switzerland – results from the first national lgbt health study
topic Parallel Programme
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10597051/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.754
work_keys_str_mv AT pfistera healthinequalitiesoflgbtpersonsinswitzerlandresultsfromthefirstnationallgbthealthstudy
AT krugerp healthinequalitiesoflgbtpersonsinswitzerlandresultsfromthefirstnationallgbthealthstudy
AT ederm healthinequalitiesoflgbtpersonsinswitzerlandresultsfromthefirstnationallgbthealthstudy