Clinician’s Experience and Self-Perceived Knowledge and Attitudes toward LGBTQ + Health Topics

Abstract

Phenomenon: Research on clinicians’ knowledge and attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+) health topics has relied mostly on small early-career samples. The influence of clinical experience on knowledge and attitudes has not been examined. The study purpose was to examine physicians’ and advanced practice providers’ (a) self-perceived knowledge and attitudes about LGBTQ + health topics, (b) the relationship between clinical experience and self-perceived knowledge and attitudes, and (c) preferences for LGBTQ + medical education.

Approach: An online anonymous survey was emailed to 3667 physicians and advanced practice providers at a large southeastern multisite healthcare institution. Logistic regression determined associations between clinical experience, knowledge, and attitudes.

Findings: There were 880 (24.0%) respondents. Most were physicians (70%). Thirty-eight percent had more than 15 years of experience. Fifty-four percent preferred online education. Few reported sophisticated knowledge of six LGBTQ + health topics (6%–10%). The majority felt that these were either important or very important for all physicians. After accounting for demographics, experience was not associated with knowledge or attitudes.

Insights: Knowledge gaps yet positive attitudes suggest that additional training on LGBTQ + patients is warranted and likely to be well received. The lack of influence of experience on knowledge and attitudes may suggest that training is applicable to clinicians of all experience levels. Future research should determine if knowledge and attitudes toward LGBTQ + health topics influence culturally competent healthcare practices.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBTQ + healthcare
• clinical knowledge
• attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities
• medical training preferences

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Atrium Health Diversity and Inclusion and the Atrium Health Medical Group LGBTQ + Task Force for their support and assistance in distributing the survey.

Disclosure statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Funding statement

No grant funding was used to support this research.