Abstract
Background
The association between discrimination based on sexual orientation and adverse health outcomes is increasingly observed in the literature. However, few studies explore discrimination based on sexual orientation in health services in representative samples of the overall population.
Objective
To estimate the prevalence of discrimination perceived by sexual orientation in Brazilian health servicesl.
Method
This cross-sectional study used data from the 2013 National Health Survey. The prevalence of discrimination perceived by sexual orientation in health services was globally estimated and its association with sociodemographic characteristics and those regarding health services was investigated using Poisson regression producing robust variance that calculated prevalence ratios.
Results
The global prevalence of the phenomenon investigated was equal to 0.18%. Although statistically significant, the magnitude of the observed associations was so small that none of the sociodemographic characteristics and the use of health services investigated seemed to be able to pragmatically influence the risk of a person being discrimined due to his/her sexual orientation in Brazilian health servicesl.
Conclusion
The study stresses the importance of establishing actions to promote respect for sexual diversity in Brazilian health services.
Keywords:
sexual and gender discrimination; sexual and gender minorities; health services; health surveys; Brazil