Map of Michigan
Areas shaded in purple show locations where W.O.R.K. Study participants were enrolled
We’ve reached our goal to enroll 1,000 girls and women from all over the state!
Socioeconomic Determinants of Care-Seeking Behavior for Pelvic Pain with Periods Presenter: Lauren Gullett, MS, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
For this presentation, we wanted to understand social and financial drivers of healthcare visits for period pain (health insurance status, education level, household income, race/ethnicity, and typical access to care).
Descriptive analyses revealed that seeing a doctor for pain was more common among those with middle or high socioeconomic status (SES) and the average length of time between start of pelvic pain to seeing a doctor for that pain was shortest among those with high SES.
When looking at individual contributors to SES, we found that having low income was associated with a 25% lower rate of seeing a provider for pain compared to having high income. Further, participants who usually had inconsistent or no access to healthcare had much lower engagement with care (26% and 44% lower, respectively) when compared to those with consistent care access. Finally, compared to White participants, Asian and Black participants were much less likely (65% and 37% less likely, respectively) to see a provider for pain.
We are currently drafting a manuscript for a peer-review publication. The manuscript will include a more detailed analysis and interpretation of these findings and will provide key takeaways for healthcare providers and propose future directions for researchers.
We are working on data analysis. We look forward to publishing what we learn from the study.
Questions?
Email the W.O.R.K. Study team: LetsWork@msu.edu
