Lee Yen-Fan, Chang Te-Sheng, Haynes Alexander MacDonald
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
LGBT Health. 2025 Apr;12(3):204-211. doi: 10.1089/lgbt.2023.0290. Epub 2024 Aug 29.
Previous research has found that stigma, discrimination, and depression are associated with the sexual minority population's medical experiences. However, there is still a lack of relevant research results in Taiwan. This study investigated the health-seeking experiences and influencing factors of gay men and lesbian women in Taiwan. We recruited gay men and lesbian women through lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-friendly websites and associations between November 2019 and June 2020. Surveys included the demographics, medical visiting experiences, Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Daily Heterosexist Experiences Questionnaire. There were 270 participants, including 188 gay men and 82 lesbian women. Most respondents refused to disclose their sexual orientation to health care providers; some feared seeking medical care and preferred seeking LGBT-friendly health care services. Compared with lesbian women, gay men had higher levels of internalized sexual stigma, victimization, vigilance, and experiences of medical staff denying services. Discrimination, depressive severity, and internalized sexual stigma affected the medical visit experience. In Taiwan, the health care experiences of gay men and lesbian women are affected by discrimination, internalized sexual stigma, and severe depression, while facing challenges of fear of seeking medical care or reluctance to disclose their sexual orientation.
先前的研究发现，污名、歧视和抑郁与性少数群体的就医经历有关。然而，台湾地区仍缺乏相关研究成果。本研究调查了台湾男同性恋者和女同性恋者的就医经历及影响因素。我们在2019年11月至2020年6月期间，通过女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋及跨性别者（LGBT）友好网站和协会招募了男同性恋者和女同性恋者。调查内容包括人口统计学信息、就医经历、内化性污名量表、患者健康问卷-9和日常异性恋歧视经历问卷。共有270名参与者，其中包括188名男同性恋者和82名女同性恋者。大多数受访者拒绝向医疗服务提供者透露自己的性取向；一些人害怕就医，更倾向于寻求LGBT友好型医疗服务。与女同性恋者相比，男同性恋者的内化性污名、受侵害程度、警惕性以及医护人员拒绝服务的经历水平更高。歧视、抑郁严重程度和内化性污名影响了就医体验。在台湾，男同性恋者和女同性恋者的就医经历受到歧视、内化性污名和重度抑郁的影响，同时还面临着害怕就医或不愿透露性取向的挑战。
