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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
David Rak, MPH and David Johnson, MPH. Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, 250 South 4th Street, Room 510, Minneapolis, MN 55415-1372
Minneapolis has a large lesbian, gay, and bisexual community. Unfortunately, in the past, little health-related information was available about this population. This presentation offers a health profile of the Minneapolis LGB population, highlighting similarities with and differences from their heterosexual counterparts.
Data for this abstract were gathered from a 1998 population-based survey of adults in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. The study sample was limited to Minneapolis respondents between the ages of 25 - 64 who described their sexual identity as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or heterosexual, and included 122 lesbian or bisexual women; 2,174 heterosexual women; 191 gay or bisexual men; and 1,689 heterosexual men.
The LGB population and their heterosexual counterparts were similar in terms of overall health ratings, health insurance coverage, and usual source of care. However, LGB individuals were more likely to have experienced incidents of discrimination, more likely to have been diagnosed with depression, and less likely to have discussed problems with a mental health professional when they wanted to. Gay/bisexual women were less likely to have complied with breast cancer screening guidelines.
Smoking was higher among LGB individuals than their heterosexual counterparts, but binge drinking was lower for gay/bisexual males and comparable for gay/bisexual females.
Specific attention needs to be paid to health and health service receipt among LGB populations, especially in regard to mental health, the adverse effects of discrimination, and communication with health care providers.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Gay Men, Lesbian Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.