Is disability exclusion associated with experiencing an unmet need for health care?
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Date
2020-06-01Source Title
Australasian Journal on AgeingPublisher
WileyAffiliation
Melbourne School of Population and Global HealthSchool of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Metadata
Show full item recordDocument Type
Journal ArticleCitations
Temple, J. B., Stiles, J. A., Utomo, A., Kelaher, M. & Williams, R. (2020). Is disability exclusion associated with experiencing an unmet need for health care?. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 39 (2), pp.112-121. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12746.Access Status
Open AccessAbstract
Objective
To examine the association between disability exclusion and experiencing an unmet need for health care.
Methods
The 2015 Survey of Disability Ageing and Carers was used to measure the prevalence of unmet needs for health care stratified by measures of exclusion. Log‐Poisson models were fitted to examine the association between discrimination, avoidance and unmet needs for health care.
Results
Approximately 10% of respondents reported an unmet need to attend a GP, specialist or hospital and 25% reported an unmet need to obtain dental treatment. For those reporting an instance of discrimination in the last 12 months, the rates of experiencing unmet needs for health care were significantly higher (GP 29%, specialist 26%, dental 46%, hospital 18%). With controls included, discrimination or avoidance significantly increased the probability of reporting an unmet need for health care regardless of the context of previous experiences of exclusion.
Conclusion
Disability discrimination or avoidance is strongly associated with experiencing an unmet need for health care among older people with disabilities.