Factors Associated with Health Care Discrimination Experiences among a National Sample of Female-to-Male Transgender Individuals

Transgender individuals experience harassment, violence, and discrimination in a number of settings. Although health care discrimination against transgender people has been documented, this issue is understudied. Using a national cross-sectional survey data set (N = 1,711), the authors sought to det...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health & social work 2015-05, Vol.40 (2), p.134-141
Main Authors: Shires, Deirdre A., Jaffee, Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Delivery of Health Care
Discrimination
Female
Gender Discrimination
Gender identity
Harassment
Health care delivery
Health Care Services
Humans
Labor Force Participation
Male
Methodology (Data Collection)
Middle Aged
Patients
Regression analysis
Sex
Sexism
Sexual Identity
Sexual orientation discrimination
Social Discrimination
Social workers
Surveys and Questionnaires
Transgender Persons
Transsexuality
United States
Young Adult
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Summary:Transgender individuals experience harassment, violence, and discrimination in a number of settings. Although health care discrimination against transgender people has been documented, this issue is understudied. Using a national cross-sectional survey data set (N = 1,711), the authors sought to determine how gender identity and presentation predict health care discrimination experiences among female-to-male (FTM) transgender people after demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are controlled. Analyses were conducted using chi-square tests and a two-step logistic regression. The majority of participants were white (73.9 percent) and between 25 and 44 years old (65.2 percent). Overall, 41.8 percent of FTM participants reported verbal harassment, physical assault, or denial of equal treatment in a doctor's office or hospital. When other factors were controlled, being Native American or multiracial, identifying as queer or asexual/other, having a graduate degree, living full-time as nonbirth gender, using hormones or surgery for medical transition, and having identification documents that list one's preferred gender were associated with increased reporting of health care discrimination experiences; being 45 years or older and reporting an annual income of $60,000 or more were associated with decreased risk. The study's findings can be useful to social workers, who play a role in educating health care providers and advocating for policies that improve health care experiences for FTM and other transgender patients.
ISSN:0360-7283
1545-6854
DOI:10.1093/hsw/hlv025