Abstracts

This abstract has been invited to present during the Broadening Representation Inclusion and Diversity by Growing Equity (BRIDGE) poster session

Rationale: People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) have been found to report dissatisfactory healthcare experiences when receiving care for a variety of healthcare needs including cancer, multiple sclerosis, and reproductive issues. People with epilepsy (PWE) have been reported to have variable satisfaction with their healthcare experiences, with associated factors including severity of epilepsy, younger age, duration of epilepsy, seizure frequency, polytherapy, comorbidities, and ease of contacting health services. Qualitative studies have stressed the importance of accessibility of healthcare professionals and their sensitivity to the non-clinical needs of their patients. There is a lack of data investigating the healthcare experience of PWE who also identify as LGBTQ._x000D_
Methods: We used data from the National Health Information Survey (NHIS) from 2017 (the most recent year from which data were available that queried participants about epilepsy). The NHIS surveyed 26,742 participants in 50 states and the District of Columbia, representing 246 million individuals, about a wide variety of health conditions and experiences. Similar to the CDC, we defined “active epilepsy” as self-reported diagnosis of a seizure disorder or epilepsy and either: self-reported use of medication to treat seizures, or having had ≥1 seizure in the past year.  We used chi-square comparisons and logistic and ordinal regression to compare self-reported sexual orientation in people with and without epilepsy, and to examine whether sexual orientation modified the health care experiences of people with epilepsy.  We adjusted results for age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, and socioeconomic status._x000D_
Results: More PWE identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or another non-straight sexual orientation, compared to people without epilepsy (PWoE; 7.2% vs 3.5%, p< 0.001). PWE were more likely to report being somewhat or very dissatisfied with their health care experiences than were PWoE (5.7% vs 4.8%, p< 0.001), and more likely to report disrespect from health care providers than were PWoE (6.6% vs 3.4%, p< 0.001). People in the LGBTQ community also had more negative health care experiences than did others (6.6% vs 4.8%, p< 0.001). Sexual orientation modified the relationship between epilepsy and health care experiences, with LGBTQ+ PWE even more likely to report experiencing disrespect from a health care provider (9.6% experiencing disrespect, p< 0.001)._x000D_