Objectives: We sought to determine whether low-income and minority populations in the Southeast face barriers to access to occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) services.

Methods: Access to OEM services was defined as the presence of an OEM physician in a county or the proximity of a clinic in the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics network to a county.

Results: Counties with higher percentages of low-income, all non-white minority, and African-American populations in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were more likely to be farther away from an AOEC clinic. Counties with higher percentages of low-income populations were less likely to have an OEM physician. However, the percentages of minority and African-American populations in these counties were not associated with the presence of an OEM physician.

Conclusion: Both low-income and minority populations in the Southeast face barriers to OEM services.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.jom.0000156398.52427.fcDOI Listing

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