Barriers to occupational and environmental medicine services in the southeastern United States.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether low-income and minority populations in the Southeast face barriers to access to occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) services. METHODS: Access to OEM services was defined as the presence of an OEM physician in a county or the proximity of a clinic in the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics network to a county. RESULTS: Counties with higher percentages of low-income, all non-white minority, and African-American populations in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were more likely to be farther away from an AOEC clinic. Counties with higher percentages of low-income populations were less likely to have an OEM physician. However, the percentages of minority and African-American populations in these counties were not associated with the presence of an OEM physician. CONCLUSION: Both low-income and minority populations in the Southeast face barriers to OEM services.