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Patient Perceptions of Prejudice and Discrimination by Health Care Providers and its Relationship with Mental Disorders: Results from the 2012 Canadian Community Health-Mental Health Survey Data

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Abstract

Using data from a nationally representative survey, the Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health, this secondary analysis aimed to determine the prevalence of perceived prejudice by health care providers (HCPs) and its relationship with mental disorders. Respondents accessing HCPs in the prior year were asked if they experienced HCP prejudice. A hypothesis driven multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between type of mental disorders and HCP prejudice. Among the 3006 respondents, 10.9 % perceived HCP prejudice, 62.4 % of whom reported a mental disorder. The adjusted odds of prejudice was highest for respondents with anxiety (OR 3.12; 95 % CI 1.60, 6.07), concurrent mood or anxiety and substance disorders (OR 3.08; 95 % CI 1.59, 5.95) and co-occurring mood and anxiety disorders (OR 2.89; 95 % CI 1.68, 4.97) compared to respondents without any mental disorders. These findings are timely for informing discussions regarding policies to address HCP prejudice towards people with mental disorders.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Mieke Koehoorn from the University of British Columbia for her contributions to the development of the manuscript. Author support was also received by The Western Regional Training Centre for Health Services Research (KM), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (EOJ) and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (EOJ).

Author’s Contribution

All authors take public responsibility for the content and have made substantial contributions to the manuscript. KM, HP and EOJ contributed to the conception and interpretation of the data. KM led data acquisition and analysis and drafted the manuscript. All authors revised the manuscript for intellectual content and approved the final version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Providence Health Care, St. Paul’s Hospital, 588B-1081 Burrard St., Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada

    Kirsten Marchand, Heather Palis & Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes

  2. School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada

    Kirsten Marchand, Heather Palis & Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes

Authors
  1. Kirsten Marchand
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  2. Heather Palis
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  3. Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes
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Correspondence to Kirsten Marchand.

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Marchand, K., Palis, H. & Oviedo-Joekes, E. Patient Perceptions of Prejudice and Discrimination by Health Care Providers and its Relationship with Mental Disorders: Results from the 2012 Canadian Community Health-Mental Health Survey Data. Community Ment Health J 52, 294–301 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9949-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9949-2

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