Nearly Half of Young
Women Report Negative Interactions with Health Care Providers
Among women ages 18-35
with a clinical visit in the past two years, more than four in 10 (46%)
report experiencing a negative interaction with a health care provider,
according to a new analysis of
2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey (WHS) data. These interactions
included a provider either dismissing patients’ concerns, assuming
something about them without asking, believing they were lying, blaming
them for their health problems, or discriminating against them because of
their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or some other
personal characteristic.
Similar
rates of women in low-income households (45%), uninsured women (46%), and
women with a disability or ongoing health condition (45%) experienced at
least one of these negative interactions. Negative interactions with
health care providers can lead to poorer health outcomes, distrust of the
health care system, and health inequities.
Analysts
also found some statistically significant differences in the experiences
of men and women. Somewhat more women than men report that their health
care providers either dismissed their concerns (29% vs. 21%), didn’t
believe they were telling the truth (15% vs. 12%) or discriminated
against them during their visit (9% vs. 5%).
Additional findings from
the analysis include the following:
•
Menopause received little attention in clinical visits. Only
one-third (35%) of women ages 40-64 say their health care provider ever
talked to them about what to expect in menopause, ranging from 42% of
women who have gone through menopause, 39% of those currently going
through menopause, and 19% of premenopausal women.
• Screening
for social determinants of health is infrequent in clinical settings,
despite their impact on the health and wellbeing of patients. While
nearly three in five (58%) women who have visited a health care provider
in the past two years say they were asked about the kind of work they do,
only one in five (20%) were asked about their ability to afford food or
their access to reliable transportation.
The
KFF WHS is a nationally representative survey of 5,145 self-identified
women and 1,225 self-identified men ages 18 to 64, conducted May 10 –
June 7, 2022.
Read “Women’s
Experiences with Provider Communication and Interactions in Health Care
Settings” for more information.
We’ve also released the
data note “Many Use
Preventive Services, but Not All Women Are Aware of Insurance Coverage
Requirements,” which presents findings from the 2022 KFF WHS
on women’s receipt of cancer screenings and other preventive services as
well as knowledge of insurance coverage requirements for these services.
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