Perceived discrimination and medical mistrust among a sample of rural Latinos: Impact on access to health care and birth control services

Despite the need to reduce unintended pregnancy and rates of HIV/STIs among Latinos, few studies have been conducted to inform interventions for this population. Research examining factors influencing unsafe sex in rural Latino populations is even more limited. Because in rural areas traditional moral values and intolerance to diversity can be strong, Latinos residing in rural communities are likely to experience unique challenges related to racism and discrimination. Although previous research has documented the relationship between discrimination and the health status of African Americans, few studies have examined discrimination and health status of Latinos. This qualitative study explores the influence of perceived discrimination and medical mistrust on access to health care and to birth control services among a sample of rural Latinos. We conducted 58 in-depth interviews (approximately 60-minutes in length) with Latino women and men (aged 18-25) recruited from 4 rural counties in the Northwest. All interviewers were Latino, bi-lingual and were matched with participants according to gender. Preliminary findings indicate that one-third of the sample reported that they had experienced discrimination when getting medical care because of race, ethnicity or color. Respondents reported that when getting health care and birth control services, respectively, they had been treated with less courtesy (46%, 29%); with less respect (44%, 35%); and received poorer services (33%, 29%) than others because of race, ethnicity or color. Findings from qualitative content analysis will be presented to contextualize quantitative findings and implications for improving reproductive health policies and sexual health of Latinos will be discussed.