Medical avoidance among marginalized groups: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
J Behav Med
; 45(5): 760-770, 2022 10.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35688960
ABSTRACT
Medical avoidance is common among U.S. adults, and may be emphasized among members of marginalized communities due to discrimination concerns. In the current study, we investigated whether this disparity in avoidance was maintained or exacerbated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed the likelihood of avoiding medical care due to general-, discrimination-, and COVID-19-related concerns in an online sample (N = 471). As hypothesized, marginalized groups (i.e., non-White race, Latinx/e ethnicity, non-heterosexual sexual orientation, high BMI) endorsed more general- and discrimination-related medical avoidance than majoritized groups. However, marginalized groups were equally likely to seek COVID-19 treatment as majoritized groups. Implications for reducing medical avoidance among marginalized groups are discussed.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
/
Vulnerable Populations
/
Healthcare Disparities
/
Pandemics
/
Social Marginalization
/
COVID-19
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Behav Med
Year:
2022
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States