Twenty-six Percent of HIV Positive Adults Receiving Health Care
Report Discrimination by a Health Care Provider
When HIV positive individuals perceive or experience discrimination by a health care provider, they may become discouraged
from seeking
health care, adhering
to treatment regimens,
or returning for follow-up.
In the current study, researchers
aimed to determine whether HIV positive individuals perceive that
physicians and other health care providers have discriminated
against them.
The
study utilized data (1996 to 1997) from the HIV Cost and
Services Utilization Study (HCSUS), which conducted in-person
interviews with a nationally representative probability sample
of 2,466 HIV-infected adults receiving health care within the
contiguous U.S.
The investigators collected
reports of whether health care providers have been uncomfortable
with the respondent, treated the respondent as an inferior, preferred
to avoid the respondent, or refused the respondent service. Questions
also covered the types of providers who engaged in these behaviors.
Results
- Twenty-six
percent (26%) of HIV-infected adults receiving health care reported
experiencing at least 1 of 4 types of perceived discrimination
by a health care provider since becoming infected with HIV,
including 8% who had been refused service.
- White respondents (32%) were more likely than others (27%) and Latinos (21%) and nearly twice as likely as African Americans (17%) to report perceived discrimination (P<.001).
- Respondents whose first positive HIV test was longer
ago were also more likely to report discrimination (P<.001).
- Respondents who reported discrimination attributed
it to physicians (54%), nurses and other clinical staff (39%),
dentists (32%), hospital staff (31%), and case managers or social
workers (8%).
Based on these findings, the authors conclude, “Many HIV-infected adults believe that their clinicians have
discriminated against them.”
“Clinicians should make efforts to address circumstances that lead
patients to perceive discrimination, whether real or imagined.”
10/31/05
Reference
M
A Schuster and others. Perceived Discrimination in Clinical Care in a Nationally Representative
Sample of HIV-Infected Adults Receiving Health Care. Journal
of General Internal Medicine 20(9): 807-813.
September 2005.
