Abstract Background Individuals with one or more socially stigmatized identities experience extensive health disparities, resulting in poorer health outcomes. However, most studies consider the effects of only individual stigmatized identities. Objective We aimed to quantitatively estimate the additive and multiplicative effects of stigmatized identities on self-reported overall health. Methods We used survey data from 387,411 participants in the All of Us Research Program, which has assembled a disease-agnostic cohort intended to reflect the US population, to statistically estimate the first- and second-order effects of 47 stigmatized identities on self-reported overall health. We used a linear model to estimate the effects of individual and pairwise stigmas on self-ratings of overall health. Results We began by aiming to create cohorts for all 93 stigmatized identities previously found to affect health, of which 47 (51%) could be practicably examined. We first modeled individual stigmas alone to contrast the results with those that included both individual and pairwise stigmas. After using the false discovery rate to adjust for testing multiple hypotheses in the collective model, 29 individual and 116 pairs of stigmas had statistically significant effects on self-reported overall health. All significant individual effects were negative or neutral except for skin cancer. Those with the largest negative effect on self-rated overall health were difficulty walking or climbing stairs, unemployed or unable to work, difficulty with errands, and low educational attainment. Pairs of intersecting stigmas had a mix of negative and positive incremental effects, indicating that some stigmatized identities are negative modifiers, such as depression, and other combinations are less negative than the sum of their individual negative effects, such as having difficulty with multiple types of activities of daily living. The individual stigmas with the largest number of statistically significant stigma pairs were unemployed or unable to work (14/47, 30%); depression and low income (11/47 each, 24%); and difficulty walking or climbing stairs, cognitive difficulties, obesity, and skin cancer (8/47 each, 17%). Conclusions Taken together, numerous pairs of stigmatized identities significantly affect self-reported overall health. While each stigmatization has both direct and indirect effects on health, the relative importance of direct and indirect effects will vary. Many of these are aligned with prior literature, and others warrant further exploration. While the large sample size of this study is a strength, we were unable to model higher-order intersectionality and encourage future research exploring this. The individual and pairwise identities with significant negative effects should be incorporated into research and clinical care by considering the multidimensionality of individuals and how that affects their overall health.
LeStage et al. (Thu,) studied this question.