Trinh M-H, et al. - The researchers aimed to investigate the health and health-care disparities among U.S. women and men at the intersection of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity. Findings revealed that sexual minorities had a higher prevalence of some poor health behaviors, health outcomes, and health-care access issues. These disparities differed across racial groups. To examine potential pathways, like discrimination, in the social environment that could help explain the relationship between sexual orientation and health, further research was required.

Methods

• The researchers examined the associations between sexual orientation identity and health/health-care outcomes among U.S. women and men within and across racial/ethnic groups.
• They employed Poisson regression with robust variance, using 2013-2015 National Health Interview Survey data (N = 91,913), to directly estimate prevalence ratios (PR) comparing health and health-care outcomes among SMs of color to heterosexuals of color and white heterosexuals, stratified by gender and adjusting for potential confounders.

Results

• The study comprised of 52% women, with around 2% of each sex identifying as SMs.
• In comparison to their heterosexual counterparts, white (PR = 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.45]) and black (1.54 [1.07, 2.20]) SM women were more likely to report heavy drinking.
• Hispanic/Latino SM women and men, compared to white heterosexual women, were more likely to experience short sleep duration (1.33 [1.06, 1.66]) and men (1.51 [1.21, 1.90).
• A much higher prevalence of stroke was noted in black SM women compared to black heterosexual women (3.25 [1.63, 6.49]) and white heterosexual women (4.51 [2.16, 9.39]).
• White SM women, compared to white heterosexual women, were more likely to be obese (1.31 [1.15, 1.48]), report cancer (1.40 [1.07, 1.82]) and report stroke (1.91 [1.16, 3.15].
• White (2.41 [2.24, 2.59]), black (1.40[1.20, 1.63]), and Hispanic/Latino SM (2.17 [1.98, 2.37]) men were more frequently tested for HIV compared to their heterosexual counterparts.