Experience of sexual and gender minority youth when accessing health care in Turkey
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Özge Ceren Apalı
Abstract
Objectives
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) patients report alarming rates of identity-based discrimination in healthcare settings. Despite the health risks and challenges impacting LGBTQ young adults, little is known about their healthcare experience, especially in Turkey. This study aimed to increase the knowledge base on LGBTQ young individuals’ experiences when accessing health care in an attempt to address the myriad of health disparities they might face.
Methods
Participants were recruited from the division of Adolescent Medicine at Hacettepe University, and also from an LGBTQ support group. Participants’ responded to open-ended items asking about their experiences in the healthcare setting, in particular to any case of discrimination and reasons for non-disclosure of gender identity/orientation.
Results
A total of 24 LGBTQ youth completed the interview, mean age 21.1 years. Overall participants reported alarming rates of identity-discrimination and non-disclosure when accessing health care. Additionally, participants reported high rates of postponing care as they felt they would be subjected to LGBTQ-based discrimination. Furthermore results suggest that transgender individuals face additional healthcare challenges compared with their LGB and cisgender counterparts.
Conclusions
To the best of our knowledge this is the first study in Turkey to evaluate the experiences of LGBTQ youth accessing medical care. This study shows that similar to barriers observed in previous studies on LGBTQ individuals, discrimination when accessing healthcare is a serious problem. Increasing knowledge concerning the discrimination LGBTQ people face when accessing healthcare is essential to decreasing healthcare disparities.
Funding source: Hacettepe Üniversitesi
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Dr. Koray Başar and Dr. Zeynep Tüzün for their help in recruiting patients and suggestions concerning survey questions.
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Competing interest: No competing financial interests exist.
References
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Effective strategies to improve health worker performance in delivering adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services
- Sleep disturbance and depression in adolescence: an integrative review of literature
- Multiple behavioural risk factors of non-communicable diseases among adolescents in four Caribbean countries: prevalence and correlates
- The post 16 gap: how do young people conceptualise PE? An exploration of the barriers to participation in physical education, physical activity and sport in senior school pupils
- The effect of cognitive behavior therapy on body image and self-esteem in female adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Polycystic ovary syndrome and reproductive health of women: a curious association
- Correlation between obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pregnancy outcomes: an overview
- Mindfulness and eudaimonic well-being: the mediating roles of rumination and emotion dysregulation
- Acute neurological conditions during pregnancy and their management: a review
- Depression and anxiety in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a literature survey
- Significance of sugar intake in young adults: a review
- Original Articles
- Prevalence and factors associated with smoking among Tunisian secondary school-adolescents
- Physical fitness and its association with overweight among early adolescents in Puducherry, Southern India
- Knowledge and awareness of individual sickle cell genotype among adolescents in a unity school in Southeast, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study
- Popular water pipe smoking, medical sciences students' awareness, perceptions, and motivations
- Investigation E-health literacy and correlates factors among Alborz medical sciences students: a cross sectional study
- Risk of eating disorders in university students: an international study in Hungary, Poland and Ukraine
- Prevalence and associated factors of oral and hand hygiene behaviour among adolescents in six Southeast Asian countries
- Assessment of academic performance of licensed athletes
- Gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in Southeast Iran
- Experience of sexual and gender minority youth when accessing health care in Turkey
- Use of modern contraceptives among advanced-level secondary school girls in the Rukwa Region, Tanzania, 2018
- The effect of poetry reading on self-concept of primary adolescents
- The association of acne and menstrual symptoms among young women (18–25 years) in Egypt: a population-based cross-sectional study
- Sexual risk behaviors and influencing factors among Muslim adolescents on southern border of Thailand
- Not just studies, but fitness can also get you the intelligence and the grades!!
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- Stressful life events and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Malaysia: the mediating role of maladaptive cognitive schema
- Sexual risk behaviour and its correlates among adolescents in Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Timor-Leste: results from national school surveys in 2015
- Utilization rate and factors influencing the use of HIV counseling and testing services among young females: a community-based study from Nigeria
- Pattern and quitting of tobacco smoking among Egyptian university students
- Association between parents and peer attachment with health locus of control: a cross-sectional study among Iranian adolescents
- Body dissatisfaction and its association with domains of physical activity and of sedentary behavior in a sample of 15,632 adolescents
- Effect of Bhramari pranayama practice on simple reaction time in healthy adolescents – a randomized control trial
- Short Communications
- Survey of school nurses’ experiences of providing counselling on sexual orientation to high school students in Japan
- Prevalence and correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents in Laos
