Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Sep;103(9):e83-7.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301217. Epub 2013 Jul 18.

Asthma disparities and within-group differences in a national, probability sample of same-sex partnered adults

John R Blosnich  1 , Joseph G L Lee, Robert Bossarte, Vincent M B Silenzio
Affiliations

Asthma disparities and within-group differences in a national, probability sample of same-sex partnered adults

John R Blosnich et al. Am J Public Health. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the prevalence and correlates of self-reported lifetime diagnosis of asthma and current asthma among same-sex and opposite-sex partnered adults.

Methods: Data were from the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, in which same-sex partnership was a response option to a family planning item in the core questionnaire. Self-reported lifetime diagnosis of asthma and current asthma were examined in logistic regression models adjusted for demographic characteristics and asthma-related confounding factors and stratified by both gender and same-sex partnership status.

Results: Significantly higher proportions of same-sex partnered male and female respondents reported lifetime and current asthma compared with their opposite-sex partnered peers. In adjusted analyses, same-sex partnership status remained significantly associated with asthma outcomes among men and women, with odds ratios ranging from 1.57 to 2.34.

Conclusions: Results corroborated past studies that indicated asthma disproportionately affects sexual minority populations. The addition of sexual minority status questions to federal survey projects is key to further exploring health disparities in this population. Future studies are needed to investigate the etiology of this disparity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Barnett SBL, Nurmagambetov TA. Costs of asthma in the United States: 2002-2007. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011;127(1):145–152. - PubMed
    1. Drake KA, Galanter JM, Burchard EGL. Race, ethnicity and social class and the complex etiologies of asthma. Pharmacogenomics. 2008;9(4):453–462. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McDaniel M, Paxson C, Waldfogel J. Racial disparities in childhood asthma in the United States: evidence from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997 to 2003. Pediatrics. 2006;117(5):e868–e877. - PubMed
    1. Melgert BN, Ray A, Hylkema MN, Timens W, Postma DS. Are there reasons why adult asthma is more common in females? Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2007;7(2):143–150. - PubMed
    1. Cochran SD, Mays VM. Physical health complaints among lesbians, gay men, and bisexual and homosexually experienced heterosexual individuals: results from the California Quality of Life Survey. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(11):2048–2055. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types