Asian American women routinely face multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination based on their marginalized social identities, including during their interactions within the US health care system. However, most research on discrimination against Asian American women is limited by its exclusive focus on race-, gender-, or language-based forms of discrimination; and research has yet to assess if their discriminatory health care experiences are associated with poor health outcomes. To address this gap, we centered the experiences of Asian American women (N = 905) from the Association of American Medical Colleges Biannual Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, a national survey of health care consumers conducted from 2011 to 2020. Prevalence rates were established for unfair treatment due to race, gender, culture, language, age, health insurance, and sexual orientation. Multiple regression models were used to assess how these discriminatory experiences were associated with health and functioning outcomes. Findings demonstrate a high prevalence (32.0%) and wide range of discriminatory experiences in health care settings among Asian American women. The majority of these discriminatory experiences were significantly associated with poorer health and functioning outcomes, even after controlling for demographic influences. Results highlight the need for further development of culturally sensitive medical practices and policies to improve the delivery of health care for Asian American women.
Keywords: Asian American women; Discrimination; Health care; Health disparities; Intersectionality.
© 2022. W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute.