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Review
. 2017 Apr 20;9(4):e1184.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.1184.

Health Care Disparities Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: A Literature Review

Hudaisa Hafeez  1 , Muhammad Zeshan  2 , Muhammad A Tahir  3 , Nusrat Jahan  4 , Sadiq Naveed  5
Affiliations
Review

Health Care Disparities Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: A Literature Review

Hudaisa Hafeez et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

About 3.5% Americans identify themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual while 0.3% identify themselves as transgender. The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community belongs to almost every race, ethnicity, religion, age, and socioeconomic group. The LGBT youth are at a higher risk for substance use, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), cancers, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, bullying, isolation, rejection, anxiety, depression, and suicide as compared to the general population. LGBT youth receive poor quality of care due to stigma, lack of healthcare providers' awareness, and insensitivity to the unique needs of this community. The main objective of this literature review is to highlight the challenges faced by the LGBT youth and to enhance the awareness among physicians about the existing disparities in order to provide a more comprehensive, evidence-based, and humane medical care to this community.

Keywords: bisexual; gay; healthcare disparities; lesbian; lgbt youth; transgender.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Odd ratios for LGBT youth versus heterosexual youth, Dane County Youth Assessment Surveys, Wisconsin, 2008-2009
LGBT: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender; STI: Sexually transmitted infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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