Health care recommendations for lesbian women.

OBJECTIVE

To review research literature to provide clinicians with data-based recommendations for care of lesbians.

DATA SOURCES

Medline searches and references from selected articles with the search term "lesbian health."

STUDY SELECTION

Literature was selected whether lesbian or women who have sex with women was utilized as a category in the study and results were available on this population.

DATA EXTRACTION

Data were organized according to specific health problems noted frequently in the research articles.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Lesbians have previously been invisible in health services and research, but in several areas, data now exists on which to base care.

CONCLUSIONS

Lesbians are now more comfortable "coming out" to providers but continue to have lower screening rates than other women. Risk is especially high in this population for cancer, heart disease, depression, and alcohol abuse. Adolescent lesbians are especially at risk for smoking and suicide/depression.