Sexual orientation based health disparities in Chile

PLoS One. 2024 Jan 25;19(1):e0296923. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296923. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Numerous studies from Europe and North America have documented sexual orientation-based health disparities, but due to data limitations, very little is known about the health of sexual minorities (i.e., lesbians, gay men, bisexual individuals, and other non-heterosexual populations) in developing countries. This research note uses newly available nationally representative data from the Chilean Socio-Economic Characterization Survey (CASEN) to explore sexual orientation-based disparities in self-rated health, health insurance coverage, and healthcare utilization in Chile. Our findings indicate that sexual minority respondents report worse self-rated health and greater health care utilization, and that sexual minority men are more likely to have private health insurance relative to heterosexual men. These findings are important in facilitating continued efforts to reduce health disparities in Latin America.

MeSH terms

  • Chile
  • Female
  • Health Inequities
  • Homosexuality, Female*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Sexual and Gender Minorities*

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.