Medical avoidance among marginalized groups: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Amani R Holder-Dixon; Olivia R Adams; Tianna L Cobb; Alison J Goldberg; Rachel A Fikslin; Mora A Reinka; Amanda N Gesselman; Devon M Price

doi:10.1007/s10865-022-00332-3

Medical avoidance among marginalized groups: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

J Behav Med. 2022 Oct;45(5):760-770. doi: 10.1007/s10865-022-00332-3. Epub 2022 Jun 10.

Authors

Amani R Holder-Dixon¹, Olivia R Adams^{2

3}, Tianna L Cobb⁴, Alison J Goldberg^{5

6}, Rachel A Fikslin^{5

6}, Mora A Reinka⁷, Amanda N Gesselman³, Devon M Price⁶

Affiliations

¹ Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. amholder@iu.edu.
² Department of Gender Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.
³ The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.
⁴ Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA.
⁵ Hunter Alliance for Research and Translation, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, USA.
⁶ Basic and Applied Social Psychology (BASP) PhD Program, Department of Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychology, Ursinus College, Collegeville, USA.

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.

Keywords: BMI; COVID-19; Discrimination; Medical avoidance; Race/ethnicity; Sexual orientation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Body Mass Index
COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / therapy
Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data
Female
Healthcare Disparities* / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Male
Pandemics*
Patient Acceptance of Health Care* / statistics & numerical data
Racial Groups / statistics & numerical data
Sexual Behavior
Social Marginalization*
Treatment Refusal / statistics & numerical data
United States / epidemiology
Vulnerable Populations* / statistics & numerical data