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. 2016 May;106(5):918-20.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303052. Epub 2016 Mar 17.

Sexual Orientation and All-Cause Mortality Among US Adults Aged 18 to 59 Years, 2001-2011

Susan D Cochran  1 , Charlotte Björkenstam  1 , Vickie M Mays  1
Affiliations

Sexual Orientation and All-Cause Mortality Among US Adults Aged 18 to 59 Years, 2001-2011

Susan D Cochran et al. Am J Public Health. 2016 May.

Abstract

To determine whether sexual minorities have an earlier mortality than do heterosexuals, we investigated associations between sexual orientation assessed in the 2001 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and mortality in the 2011 NHANES-linked mortality file. Mortality follow-up time averaged 69.6 months after NHANES. By 2011, 338 individuals had died. Sexual minorities evidenced greater all-cause mortality than did heterosexuals after adjusting for demographic confounding. These effects generally disappeared with further adjustment for NHANES-detected health and behavioral differences.

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