 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Shari Mills, PhD, Tobacco Control and Prevention Program, County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services, 3530 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90010, (213) 351-7313, shmills@dhs.co.la.ca.us, Mark D. Weber, PhD, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services, 3530 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90010, and Paul Simon, MD, MPH, Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology, County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services, 313 North Figeroa St., Room 127, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community continues to face social discrimination as well as disparities in health care and health assessment. Furthermore, for decades the tobacco industry has focused upon the GLBT community through specific advertisements and sponsorships. Thus, public health research is needed to learn about smoking and smoking-related behaviors in the GLBT community, to monitor trends in these behaviors, to study associations of these behaviors with other aspects of health, and for development and evaluation of sound interventions. Results of this population-based sample study indicate that lesbians/bisexual women are significantly more likely to be current smokers (34% vs 15% for heterosexual women), to smoke more frequently (87% of lesbians/bisexuals smoke everyday compared with 75% of heterosexuals), to report greater exposure to second-hand smoke outside of the home (28% of lesbians/bisexuals indicate being exposed to people who smoke for all or most of their time spent out of the home vs 12% of heterosexuals), to be more likely to have a heart disorder diagnosis (16% vs 5% for heterosexuals), and a trend towards significance was found for lesbians/bisexuals to be more likely to have an asthma diagnosis (17% vs 9%). Further results are also discussed, including analysis of possible influential factors such as age, race/ethnicity, education, and depressive disorder, along with the implications of this study and its strengths and limitations.
Learning Objectives: This poster will
Keywords: Smoking, 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.