# Discrimination experiences and their associations with sociodemographic factors, health and quality of life—a latent class analysis

## TL;DR

This study identifies different patterns of discrimination experiences and their impact on health and quality of life in Norway, showing that those who face discrimination report worse outcomes.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is identifying distinct discrimination patterns and their associations with health outcomes using latent class analysis in a welfare state context.

## Key findings

- Six distinct classes of perceived discrimination were identified, including Massive PD and Ethnicity/Skin PD.
- Classes with discrimination reported significantly worse self-rated health and mental distress compared to the No PD group.
- The Massive PD class exceeded clinical cut-offs for psychological distress, highlighting severe impacts of discrimination.

## Abstract

Discrimination has adverse effects on people’s health and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to identify distinct intersecting patterns of discrimination experiences, examine their associations with social categories and health factors, and assess the impact of perceived discrimination (PD) on health and QoL outcomes beyond specific self-reported reasons for PD.

We utilized data from the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (NCPHS) conducted in Agder County in 2023 and employed latent class analysis (LCA) to explore how patterns of discrimination reasons cluster. The selected classes were then further examined to determine how they differed by comparing each class to the reference class with no PD. Lastly, we assessed the estimated marginal means of each class on health and overall QoL using ANCOVA.

The study identified six classes of PD: Massive PD, Gender/Age PD, No PD, Function/Illness PD, Ethnicity/Skin PD, and Political PD. ANCOVA analyses revealed significant differences across self-rated health, mental distress, and QoL. Notably, the Massive PD, Gender/Age PD, and Function/Illness PD groups reported significantly poorer self-rated health and QoL compared to the No PD group. All PD classes scored significantly higher in mental distress than the No PD group, with the Massive PD class exceeding the clinical cut-off, indicating elevated psychological distress.

Our findings reveal persistent health and QoL disparities between individuals experiencing PD and those who do not, despite a robust welfare system. Service providers must consider the interplay of factors such as age, gender, income, and health conditions with PD to ensure fair service delivery.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12955-026-02502-2.