Sexual Orientation-Specific Policies Are Associated With Prenatal Care Use in the First Trimester Among Sexual Minority Women: Results From a Prospective Cohort Study.
Bethany G Everett, Zoë Bergman, Brittany M Charlton, Veronica Barcelona
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Previous research has shown sexual minority women (SMW) are more likely to report multiple maternal and infant health outcomes compared to heterosexual women and that these outcomes are moderated by the policy environment. Little is known, however, about prenatal care use disparities or the social determinants of prenatal care use for SMW.
Purpose: To examine the relationship between sexual orientation-specific policies that confer legal protections (e.g., hate crime protections, housing discrimination, same-sex marriage) and prenatal care use among women using a prospective, population-based data set.
Methods: Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and logistic regression, we link measures of state policies to the use of prenatal care in the first trimester among women who had live births. The use of prospective data allows us to adjust for covariates associated with preconception care use prior to pregnancy (n = 586 singleton births to SMW; n = 4,539 singleton births to heterosexual women).
Results: Sexual orientation-specific policies that conferred protections were associated with increased use of prenatal care among pregnancies reported by SMW (OR = 1.86, 95% CI 1.16, 2.96). In fact, in states with zero protections, we found no differences in prenatal care use by sexual minority status; however, in states with two or more protective policies, SMW were more likely to access prenatal care in the first trimester than heterosexual women. There was no relationship between sexual orientation-specific policy environments and prenatal care use among pregnancies reported by heterosexual women.
Conclusions: Recent research has documented that SMW are more likely to have adverse perinatal and obstetrical outcomes than their heterosexual peers. These findings suggest that Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual-specific policy protections may facilitate the use of prenatal care among SMW, a potentially important pathway to improve reproductive health among this population.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine aims to foster the exchange of knowledge derived from the disciplines involved in the field of behavioral medicine, and the integration of biological, psychosocial, and behavioral factors and principles as they relate to such areas as health promotion, disease prevention, risk factor modification, disease progression, adjustment and adaptation to physical disorders, and rehabilitation. To achieve these goals, much of the journal is devoted to the publication of original empirical articles including reports of randomized controlled trials, observational studies, or other basic and clinical investigations. Integrative reviews of the evidence for the application of behavioral interventions in health care will also be provided. .