Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2024 Mar 8;26:e47448. doi: 10.2196/47448.
Little is known about sexual minority adults' willingness to use digital health tools, such as pandemic-related tools for screening and tracking, outside of HIV prevention and intervention efforts for sexual minority men, specifically. Additionally, given the current cultural climate in the United States, heterosexual and sexual minority adults may differ in their willingness to use digital health tools, and there may be within-group differences among sexual minority adults.
This study compared sexual minority and heterosexual adults' willingness to use COVID-19-related digital health tools for public health screening and tracking and tested whether sexual minority adults differed from each other by age group, gender, and race or ethnicity.
We analyzed data from a cross-sectional, national probability survey (n=2047) implemented from May 30 to June 8, 2020, in the United States during the height of the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using latent-variable modeling, heterosexual and sexual minority adults were tested for differences in their willingness to use digital health tools for public health screening and tracking. Among sexual minority adults, specifically, associations with age, gender, and race or ethnicity were assessed.
On average, sexual minority adults showed greater willingness to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than heterosexual adults (latent factor mean difference 0.46, 95% CI 0.15-0.77). Among sexual minority adults, there were no differences by age group, gender, or race or ethnicity. However, African American (b=0.41, 95% CI 0.19-0.62), Hispanic or Latino (b=0.36, 95% CI 0.18-0.55), and other racial or ethnic minority (b=0.54, 95% CI 0.31-0.77) heterosexual adults showed greater willingness to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than White heterosexual adults.
In the United States, sexual minority adults were more willing to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than heterosexual adults. Sexual minority adults did not differ from each other by age, gender, or race or ethnicity in terms of their willingness to use these digital health tools, so no sexual orientation-based or intersectional disparities were identified. Furthermore, White heterosexual adults were less willing to use these tools than racial or ethnic minority heterosexual adults. Findings support the use of digital health tools with sexual minority adults, which could be important for other public health-related concerns (eg, the recent example of mpox). Additional studies are needed regarding the decision-making process of White heterosexual adults regarding the use of digital health tools to address public health crises, including pandemics or outbreaks that disproportionately affect minoritized populations.
对于性少数群体成年人在 HIV 预防和干预工作之外，是否愿意使用数字健康工具，例如与大流行相关的筛查和追踪工具，知之甚少，特别是针对男同性恋者。此外，鉴于美国当前的文化氛围，异性恋和性少数群体成年人在使用数字健康工具的意愿上可能存在差异，而且性少数群体成年人之间也可能存在群体内差异。
本研究比较了性少数群体和异性恋成年人使用与 COVID-19 相关的数字健康工具进行公共卫生筛查和追踪的意愿，并测试了性少数群体成年人是否因年龄组、性别和种族或民族而存在差异。
我们分析了 2020 年 5 月 30 日至 6 月 8 日期间在美国进行的一项全国性概率调查（n=2047）的数据，该调查是在美国对 COVID-19 大流行做出公共卫生反应的高峰期实施的。使用潜在变量建模，对异性恋和性少数群体成年人在使用数字健康工具进行公共卫生筛查和追踪方面的意愿进行了测试。具体而言，还评估了性少数群体成年人中与年龄、性别和种族或民族的关联。
平均而言，性少数群体成年人表示愿意比异性恋成年人更愿意使用数字健康工具进行筛查和追踪（潜在因素平均差异 0.46，95%置信区间 0.15-0.77）。在性少数群体成年人中，年龄组、性别或种族或民族之间没有差异。然而，非裔美国人（b=0.41，95%置信区间 0.19-0.62）、西班牙裔或拉丁裔（b=0.36，95%置信区间 0.18-0.55）和其他种族或少数民族（b=0.54，95%置信区间 0.31-0.77）的异性恋成年人表示愿意比白人异性恋成年人更愿意使用数字健康工具进行筛查和追踪。
在美国，性少数群体成年人比异性恋成年人更愿意使用数字健康工具进行筛查和追踪。在使用这些数字健康工具的意愿方面，性少数群体成年人彼此之间没有差异，也没有因年龄、性别或种族或民族而存在差异，因此没有发现基于性取向或交叉性别的差异。此外，白人异性恋成年人比种族或民族少数异性恋成年人更不愿意使用这些工具。研究结果支持与性少数群体成年人一起使用数字健康工具，这对于其他与公共卫生相关的问题（例如，最近的猴痘示例）很重要。需要进一步研究白人异性恋成年人在使用数字健康工具来应对公共卫生危机（包括对少数群体人口造成不成比例影响的大流行或疫情）方面的决策过程。
