The Association between State Policy Environments and Self-Rated Health Disparities for Sexual Minorities in the United States. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2018 Jun 01;15(6)
Date
06/03/2018Pubmed ID
29857580Pubmed Central ID
PMC6024973DOI
10.3390/ijerph15061136Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85048048916 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 32 CitationsAbstract
A large body of research has documented disparities in health and access to care for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people in the United States. Less research has examined how the level of legal protection afforded to LGB people (the state policy environment) affects health disparities for sexual minorities. This study used data on 14,687 sexual minority adults and 490,071 heterosexual adults from the 2014⁻2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to document differences in health. Unadjusted state-specific prevalence estimates and multivariable logistic regression models were used to compare poor/fair self-rated health by gender, sexual minority status, and state policy environments (comprehensive versus limited protections for LGB people). We found disparities in self-rated health between sexual minority adults and heterosexual adults in most states. On average, sexual minority men in states with limited protections and sexual minority women in states with either comprehensive or limited protections were more likely to report poor/fair self-rated health compared to their heterosexual counterparts. This study adds new findings on the association between state policy environments and self-rated health for sexual minorities and suggests differences in this relationship by gender. The associations and impacts of state-specific policies affecting LGB populations may vary by gender, as well as other intersectional identities.
Author List
Gonzales G, Ehrenfeld JMAuthor
Jesse Ehrenfeld MD, MPH Sr Associate Dean, Director, Professor in the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Bisexuality
Female
Health Status Disparities
Health Surveys
Heterosexuality
Homosexuality, Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Policy Making
Prevalence
Sexual Behavior
Sexual and Gender Minorities
State Government
United States
Young Adult
