Sexual Minorities More Open to Digital Health Tools for Screenings

Sexual minority adults show greater willingness to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than heterosexual adults, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR).

Research on the use of digital health tools among sexual minority adults (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other non-heterosexual identities) is limited. For this study, Dr. Wilson Vincent of Temple University compared heterosexual and sexual minority adults’ willingness to use digital health tools for COVID-19 screening and tracking purposes. The study also examined if willingness within the sexual minority group varied by factors like age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

Dr. Vincent’s study used data from the COVID-19 Impact Survey, a large survey conducted during the peak of the U.S. COVID-19 response (May 30 to June 8, 2020), which included 2047 participants.

The study revealed that, on average, sexual minority adults showed greater willingness to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than heterosexual adults. Furthermore, among sexual minority adults, there were no differences in the use of digital health tools by age group, gender, race, or ethnicity.

“Sexual minority adults did not differ from each other by age, gender, or race or ethnicity in terms of their willingness to use these digital health tools, so no sexual orientation-based or intersectional disparities were identified,” Dr. Vincent wrote.

The analysis also revealed that heterosexual adults from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds, including Black, Latino, and other groups, expressed a greater willingness to use digital health tools compared to White heterosexual adults.

Dr. Vincent believes these findings suggest that digital health interventions could be well-received by sexual minority adults and potentially valuable for addressing other public health issues, such as monkeypox.

“Additional studies are needed regarding the decision-making process of White heterosexual adults regarding the use of digital health tools to address public health crises, including pandemics or outbreaks that disproportionately affect minoritized populations,” he concluded.

Source: Medical Xpress

Journal: JMIR