Health Care Access and Perceptions of Provider Care among Individuals

Slide Presentation from the AHRQ 2011 Annual Conference

Health Care Access and Perceptions of Provider Care among Individuals in Same-Sex Couples

Slide Presentation from the AHRQ 2011 Annual Conference

On September 19, 2011, James Kirby made this presentation at the 2011 Annual Conference. Select to access the PowerPoint® presentation (100 KB). Plugin Software Help.

Slide 1

Health Care Access and Perceptions of Provider Care among Individuals in Same-Sex Couples

Joseph Clift
AHRQ/Environmental Protection Agency

James Kirby
AHRQ

Slide 2

Background

• Most research on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people focuses on health disparities, not access, use or perceptions.
• Most research is based on small, convenience samples.

Slide 3

Objective

• Compare individuals in same-sex couples to those in different-sex married couples:
  • Access.
  • Preventive Use.
  • Perceptions of care.

Slide 4

Method

• Descriptive statistics with difference tests corrected for the complex sample design.
• Logistic regression models controlling for a limited number of basic sociodemographic variables:
  • Age, household income, highest degree, metropolitan residence and insurance status.

Slide 5

Data

• Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, pooled for 1996-2007.
• Sample: individuals who are married or who report having a "partner" of the same sex:
  • 136,676 married individuals.
  • 696 individuals in same sex couples.

Slide 6

Variables

• Access.
• Preventive Use.
• Perceptions of Provider Care.

Slide 7

Results: Access

Image: Bar graph shows the following data:

Slide 8

Results: Access

Image: Bar graph shows the following data:

Slide 9

Results: Preventive Use

Image: Bar graph shows the following data:

Slide 10

Results: Perceptions of Provider Care

Image: Bar graph shows the following data:

Slide 11

Odds-ratios from Logistic Regression Model

Slide 12

Summary and Conclusions

• Statistically significant differences exist on:
  • Timeliness of getting appointments and Rx drugs.
  • Ease in seeing specialists.
  • Annual flu shot.
• Most measures show no statistically significant difference.
• Overall pattern of differences indicate that individuals in same-sex couples have generally worse access and more negative perceptions of care:
  • Annual flu shot is the exception.

Slide 13

Limitations

• Cannot infer to LGBT people, only to those in same-sex cohabiting couples.
• Differences are "averages" over 12 years.
• Descriptive.

Current as of December 2011

Internet Citation:

Health Care Access and Perceptions of Provider Care among Individuals in Same-Sex Couples. Slide Presentation from the AHRQ 2011 Annual Conference (Text Version). December 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/about/annualconf11/kirby/kirby.htm