Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01506-0 Predictors of Perceived Discrimination in Medical Settings Among Muslim Women in the USA Sohad Murrar 1,2,3  · Benish Baqai 3,4  · Aasim I. Padela 1,3,4,5 Received: 30 August 2022 / Revised: 21 December 2022 / Accepted: 22 December 2022 © W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute 2023 Abstract Minority groups based on immigration status, gender, or religion often face discrimination in healthcare settings. Muslim women, especially those who wear hijab, are more likely to experience stereotyping and discrimination in and outside of healthcare, but little is known about the sociodemographic predictors of this discrimination. We examined sociodemographic factors and religiosity as predictors of discrimination in medical settings among Muslim American women. Muslim women (n = 254) were recruited from Muslim organizations in Chicago to self-administer a survey on perceived discrimination, religiosity, and sociodemographic characteristics. Many participants reported that they were treated with less courtesy than non-Muslims (25.4%) and that a doctor or nurse did not listen to them (29.8%) or acted as though they were not smart (24.3%). A multivariable regression model revealed that self-rated religiosity was negatively associated with discrimination. Race/ ethnicity trended towards predicting perceived discrimination such that Arabs and South Asians reported less discrimina- tion than African Americans. The current study sheds light on the important role of religiosity in shaping Muslim women’s experiences in medical settings and points to the bufering efect of religiosity and the additive consequences of racial/ethnic identity in experiences of religious discrimination. Keywords Healthcare · Islam · Disparities · Religious identity · Cultural competence Introduction Discrimination in day-to-day life negatively impacts stress levels, mental health, and physical health conditions includ- ing hypertension, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and diabetes [1, 2]. Discrimination within healthcare leads to mistrust of healthcare providers [3], lack of treatment adher- ence [4], and delay or avoidance of medical care [5]. Minor- ity groups based on gender identity, immigration status, and religious afliation are more likely to be discriminated against in healthcare settings [5]. Given the rise of Islamo- phobia [6, 7], Muslim patients may be subjected to subtle and overt discrimination in healthcare. Extant research already shows that Muslims have poor mental and physi- cal health, low rates of health-seeking behaviors, and high levels of stress associated with discrimination and accul- turation [1, 8]. Within healthcare, Muslim Americans report being excluded or ignored, treated rudely because they wear Islamic dress, verbally abused, physically assaulted, and provided culturally incongruent care related to worship and religious observances [1, 9]. Certainly, Muslims living in the USA experience chal- lenges in healthcare uniquely related to their religious iden- tity. Western cultures tend to classify religious identity as “a voluntary or partial identity” [8]. Yet, research shows that Muslims generally consider their religious identity to be central and that their religious identity shapes their health behaviors and decision-making [8, 10]. For example, reli- gious values motivate many American Muslims to seek a gender-concordant physician [11], and a lack of female clini- cians leads some women to delay or forgo care [12]. * Sohad Murrar murrar@uic.edu 1 Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA 2 Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA 3 Initiative On Islam and Medicine, Brookfeld, WI, USA 4 Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA 5 Center for Bioethics and the Medical Humanities, Institute for Health and Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA