Self-reported health conditions, quality of Primary Health Care and associated factors according to sexual and gender minorities

Abstract

Introduction: Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transvestites, transsexuals, transgenders, queers, intersexes, asexuals, pansexuals and other sexual and gender minorities constitute a population that has been little studied regarding the use and care in health services. Objective: From this perspective, the general objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of Primary Health Care according to members of sexual and gender minorities. Methods: This is an evaluative research, with a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical design and a quantitative approach, performed by means of a web survey in Brazil. The script for data collection addressed sociodemographic characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, self-reported health conditions and the 23 items of the Primary Care Assessment Tool, reduced version for adult users. Results: The results represent 314 LGBTQIAP+ people, predominantly young, white, cisgender, homosexual and bisexual, from the five Brazilian regions, highlighting the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. The use of alcoholic beverages and other substances, the weight change and the presence of mental diseases were the most frequent self-reported health conditions. Primary health care was mostly evaluated with low overall scores, thus indicating low quality. The attributes “community guidance” and “coordination” (care integration) were marked by negative evaluations, indicating small extension. People belonging to sexual and gender minorities who worked, had kidney problems, had been hospitalized recently and that had their gender identity and sexual orientation known by health professionals were more likely to evaluate the Primary Health Care as good. Conclusion: This work points out as weaknesses in the care of the LGBTQIAP+ population the following atributes: family guidance, accessibility, longitudinality and available services, which can be prioritized to improve the quality of Primary Health Care in the Brazilian Unified Health System.