Open AccessDifferences in Multimorbidity among Cisgender Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adults: Investigating Differences across Age-Groups
Author(s) -
Billy A. Caceres,
Jasmine Travers,
Yashika Sharma
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of aging and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.041
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1552-6887
pISSN - 0898-2643
DOI - 10.1177/0898264320983663
Subject(s) - sexual minority , demography , lesbian , psychological intervention , heterosexuality , sexual orientation , multinomial logistic regression , logistic regression , gerontology , medicine , odds , health equity , reproductive health , psychology , homosexuality , public health , population , social psychology , psychiatry , machine learning , sociology , computer science , psychoanalysis , nursing
Objectives: Despite increased risk for chronic disease, there is limited research that has examined disparities in multimorbidity among sexual minority adults and whether these disparities differ by age. Methods: Data were from the 2014-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used sex-stratified multinomial logistic regression to examine differences in multimorbidity between sexual minority and heterosexual cisgender adults and whether hypothesized differences varied across age-groups. Results: The sample included 687,151 adults. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults had higher odds of meeting criteria for multimorbidity than same-sex heterosexual adults. These disparities were greater among sexual minority adults under the age of 50 years. Only other non-heterosexual men over the age of 50 years and lesbian women over the age of 80 years were less likely to have multimorbidity than their same-sex heterosexual counterparts. Discussion: Health promotion interventions to reduce adverse health outcomes among sexual minorities across the life span are needed.