Characteristics of Ohio women that did not receive reproductive and sexual healthcare
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Date
2021-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Objective:
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that a person with female reproductive anatomy receive their first Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) visit at ages 13-17, and continue to have annual women's health visits throughout their lifetime.1 Though this recommendation is well known, whether there is equitable access for all adult Ohioans with female reproductive anatomy is unknown. Previous research has determined that barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare in the United States are disproportionately experienced by marginalized individuals2 and it is critical to determine if this relationship holds true in Ohio, a state with vastly different community spaces from urban, to suburban neighborhoods and rural farming communities. Through this analysis, I analyze the characteristics of Ohio women who experienced reduced accessibility of reproductive and sexual healthcare.
Methods:
The Ohio Survey of Women is a population-representative survey that captures data about reproductive health and demographics, including age, race and sexuality, among women in Ohio. This survey was conducted by NORC in 2018 through 2019 and sampled among women of reproductive age living in Ohio (18-44 years). Using unadjusted logistic regression, I identified characteristics of Ohio women that are associated with not receiving an annual women's health visit in the past year.
Results:
A total of 2,613 participants completed the survey. After removing respondents who were missing data on the primary variables of interest, I was left with an analytic sample of 2,434. Race (Black OR= 1.18, CI= 0.75, 1.86; Hispanic OR= 0.91, CI= 0.49, 1,66; Multiracial/other OR=1.44, CI= 0.95, 2.16), living in rural Appalachia (OR=1.05, CI= 0.82, 1.32), and being currently pregnant (not pregnant OR= 1.52, CI= 0.77, 3.03) were not significantly correlated with not obtaining an annual women's visit. Individuals that identified as a sexual minority (OR=1.52, CI= 1.11, 2.08), were young (aged 18-24 OR=2.35, 95% CI= 1.86, 3.27), lacked health insurance at some point over the last year (OR= 4.51, CI= 3.10, 6.56), were not employed (OR=1.50, CI= 1.16, 1.94) and had low socioeconomic status (less than 75,000 U.S. dollars a year, some college or less OR=2.26, CI=1.72, 2.99; income more than 75,000 U.S. dollars, some college or less OR=1.86, CI= 1.28, 2.70; income less than $75,000, bachelor's degree or higher OR=1.43, CI=1.03, 1.99) had significantly higher odds of not obtaining an annual women's health visit in the last year.
Conclusion:
It is critical to identify which Ohio women are most likely to miss their annual women's health visit. When advocating for a system of nondiscriminatory healthcare access, we must identify the groups experiencing the most barriers to access in order to create interventions that better serve these groups.
Description
First Place for Social Determinants of Health in the 26th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Keywords
reproductive health, sexual health, healthcare access, annual women's visit