Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Collection of Older Adults in the UCHealth Electronic Health Record: Assessing the First Three Years of Implementation

• Published in: Clinical gerontologist pp. 1 - 13
• Main Authors: Valenti, Korijna G, Lewis, Carmen, Giano, Zachary, Rieck, Jared, Lee, Rita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 06-10-2024
• Subjects: Data collection; older adults; health equity; inclusivity; sexual orientation and gender identity
• ISSN: 0731-7115; 1545-2301; 1545-2301
• DOI: 10.1080/07317115.2024.2411709

This study examines sexual orientation/gender identity (SOGI) data collection in older adults from the UCHealth systems electronic health record.
Data of older adults aged 55 and older were analyzed between January 2019 and December 2022. Prevalence of SOGI documentation based on four new SOGI-related questions were analyzed along with social history documentation.
Data were missing in reports (93% for sexual orientation and 96% for gender identity). Of 459,544 older adults potentially identifiable as a sexual or gender minority (SGM), 8.24% could be identified through other social history, and 91.76% could not. Data often returned a response of "undisclosed" (1.04%) or "unspecified" (98.79%), leaving .005% to represent the identifiable population of SGM minority adults.
SOGI data often was not documented through questions recommended since January 2019. It is unlikely that .005% accurately represents the SGM older patient population as national estimates are between 7%-11%. Lower reported percentages of SGM older adults may lead to less recognition of patient needs, and thus less equitable and personalized care.
These findings exemplify the need for evaluation strategies to be designed to improve SOGI collection with the primary goal of promoting equity and inclusion for SGM older adults.