1 Office of Minority Health, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , Baltimore, Maryland.
2 Health Care Department, NORC at the University of Chicago , Bethesda, Maryland.
LGBT Health. 2017 Dec;4(6):398-403. doi: 10.1089/lgbt.2016.0203. Epub 2017 Oct 13.
Advances in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (sexual minority [SM]) acceptance and equality have been made in the past decade. However, certain SM subgroups continue to be disadvantaged due to lack of data and, thus, lack of knowledge about these populations. Data for older sexual minorities are especially lacking and will be increasingly important as more sexual minorities enter older age. This research explores results from a nationally representative health survey to elucidate some health indicators for older sexual minorities.
Data from the 2013 and 2014 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) were pooled for increased sample size, and established research methods were followed as recommended by prior NHIS sexual orientation studies. We conducted descriptive analyses on the differences between SM and heterosexual groups, aged 65 years and older, for 12 health indicators.
Four out of the 12 health indicators were significantly different for sexual minorities, and three out of those four indicated positive health outcomes or behaviors when compared with heterosexuals. Sexual minorities were more than three times as likely to receive HIV testing as heterosexual peers. Sexual minorities were more likely to receive an influenza vaccination, and much more likely to report excellent or very good health, than their heterosexual peers. Sexual minorities were more than twice as likely to report binge drinking, which is consistent with prior research for adult sexual minorities.
This analysis is the first to examine national data on health indicators for sexual minorities, aged 65 years and older, using NHIS data. As more surveys begin to collect SMdata and more years of data are collected by NHIS, a clearer picture of the health of older adult sexual minorities should emerge.
在过去的十年中，同性恋、双性恋和双性人（性少数群体[SM]）的接纳和平等取得了进步。然而，由于缺乏数据，某些 SM 亚群仍然处于不利地位，因此对这些人群的了解也不足。老年性少数群体的数据尤其缺乏，随着越来越多的性少数群体进入老年，这些数据将变得越来越重要。本研究探讨了一项全国代表性健康调查的结果，以阐明一些老年性少数群体的健康指标。
将 2013 年和 2014 年国家健康访谈调查（NHIS）的数据合并，以增加样本量，并按照之前 NHIS 性取向研究推荐的既定研究方法进行。我们对 12 项健康指标进行了描述性分析，比较了年龄在 65 岁及以上的 SM 和异性恋群体之间的差异。
在 12 项健康指标中，有 4 项对性少数群体有显著差异，其中 3 项与异性恋者相比，表明健康结果或行为呈阳性。性少数群体接受 HIV 检测的可能性是异性恋同龄人三倍以上。性少数群体更有可能接种流感疫苗，并且报告身体健康状况极佳或非常好的可能性远远高于异性恋同龄人。性少数群体报告暴饮的可能性是异性恋者的两倍多，这与之前对成年性少数群体的研究一致。
本分析首次使用 NHIS 数据，对年龄在 65 岁及以上的性少数群体的健康指标进行了全国性数据的研究。随着越来越多的调查开始收集 SM 数据，以及 NHIS 收集更多年份的数据，老年性少数群体健康状况的更清晰图景应该会出现。
