Summary
People in socially disadvantaged groups face a myriad of challenges to their health. Discrimination, based on group status such as gender, immigration generation, race/ethnicity, or religion, are a well-documented health challenge. However, less is known about experiences of discrimination specifically within health care settings, and how it may act as a barrier to health care. Using data from a nationally representative survey of France with an oversample of immigrants, authors examine rates of reported discrimination in health care settings, rates of foregoing health care, and whether discrimination could explain disparities in foregoing care across social groups.
Findings: Rates of both reporting discrimination within health care and reporting foregone care in the past 12 months were generally highest among women, immigrants from Africa or Overseas France, and Muslims. For all of these groups, experiences of discrimination potentially explained significant proportions of their disparity in foregone care. Rates of foregone care were also higher for those of mixed origin and people who reported “Other Religion,” but foregone health care was not associated with discrimination for those groups.
Experiences of discrimination within the health care setting may present a barrier to health care for people that are socially disadvantaged due to gender, immigration, race/ethnicity, or religion. Researchers and policymakers should consider barriers to health care that lie within the health care experience itself as potential intervention targets.
This study cites 2003 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data.
