Project Summary
This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.
What is the research about?
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people are more likely than others to have health problems such as depression and substance abuse. Knowing about patients’ sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, can help clinicians, such as doctors and nurses, give care that respects the preferences, needs, and values of LGBT patients. However, clinicians may not know when or how to collect SOGI information; patients may also be uncomfortable bringing it up. Electronic health records don’t have a standard way for clinicians to collect this information.
In this study, the research team wants to know whether giving multiple trainings to healthcare providers on how to collect and talk about SOGI information affects LGBT patients’ care.
Who can this research help?
Healthcare administrators and clinicians can use findings from this study when considering ways to collect SOGI information.
What is the research team doing?
The research team is working with staff at 12 community health centers around the country. At the start of the study, health center staff and administrators fill out a form online. They answer questions about their center’s policies and services for LGBT patients and whether their center collects SOGI information. The form also asks about the centers’ readiness to collect SOGI information.
The research team is dividing the centers into two groups by chance. In one group, the team is holding three trainings for administrators and staff at each center on providing care that respects LGBT patients’ preferences, needs, and values. Trainings also cover how to collect SOGI information and make it part of that center’s electronic health record system. Staff at centers in the other group can attend an optional one-time webinar that covers the same topics.
To learn whether healthcare centers improve how often they collect SOGI information from patients, the research team is reviewing patient records for two years. The team is also looking at whether patients receive care for health issues that affect LGBT communities, such as substance use.
Patients and clinicians are working with the research team to plan and conduct the study.
Research methods at a glance
| Design Elements | Description |
|---|---|
| Design | Randomized controlled trial |
| Population | Adults ages 18 years and older who are healthcare staff members or patients at participating clinical sites |
| Interventions/ Comparators |
|
| Outcomes |
Primary: documentation of SOGI status, behavioral health and substance use assessments, weight or BMI, Hepatitis A and B vaccinations, mammograms and Pap tests Secondary: documentation of referral(s) (if referral is indicated) for behavioral health, tobacco counseling and weight control, HIV screening, bacterial sexually transmitted infection screening, anal Pap screening |
| 2-year follow-up for primary outcomes |