Discrimination in the Health Care Setting Among Latinx in California

Discrimination, such as being treated unfairly due to race/ethnicity or gender, has been associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes. The present study examines the relationship between gender and discrimination in the health care setting among Latinx. Analyses focus on a sample of 4,959 Latinx adults who participated in the 2015 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). CHIS is the largest health survey done at the state level in the US carried out by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research every year. Logistic regression examined the association between self-reported discrimination in the health care setting and gender stratified by English proficiency. Latina women had a higher odds of reporting discrimination in the health care setting compared to Latino men in both the low English proficiency and the high English proficiency groups even after adjusting for additional sociodemographics. Insurance was not associated with discrimination in the health care setting. Exploratory analyses also assessed these relationships for the aggregate group of Latinx, without stratifying, producing similar findings. Despite the Institute of Medicine’s Report published in 2002, “Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities 46 5th Annual Student Research Symposium in Health Care”, which highlighted disparities in health care services and established policies and practices to address these inequalities, discrimination in the health care setting remains a reality for communities of color. As discrimination may be a risk factor for several negative health outcomes, health care providers should commit to addressing biases that can exacerbate the health of their patients.