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. 2022 Jun 13;7(3):282-286.
doi: 10.1089/trgh.2020.0101. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Transgender Clients' Travel Distance to Preferred Health Care: A Clinic-Specific Study

Affiliations

Transgender Clients' Travel Distance to Preferred Health Care: A Clinic-Specific Study

Rebecca McGarity-Palmer et al. Transgend Health. .

Abstract

Purpose: To examine distance traveled to an urban community health center by gender-expansive and cisgender participants.

Methods: Client-reported zip code of residence from archival data (N=2677) was used. A chi-square test of independence and a Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test were conducted.

Results: Gender-expansive clients travel farther to access health care from this clinic; this is true for clients who live within the city, within the state, and in the neighboring states.

Conclusion: Trans people experience travel distance as a barrier to accessing quality health care. Broadening telehealth services and working with rural health care providers to develop transition-related health care knowledge are key.

Keywords: access to care; barriers to care; gender variance; nonbinary gender identity; transgender.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests.

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Percentage of clients residing in Chicago, Illinois, Midwest, and out of state, grouped by gender identity.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Distance from health center in miles, grouped by gender identity. Larger circle indicates mean distance for group.

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