HEALTH BEHAVIORS AND HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION OF SOUTHERN LESBIANS
HEALTH BEHAVIORS AND HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION OF SOUTHERN LESBIANS
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.whi.2010.01.002
复制
发表时间：
2010-05-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Irwin, Jay A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Austin, Erika Laine;Irwin, Jay A.
目的。与异性恋女性相比，女同性恋女性更有可能经历负面的身心健康结果，尽管对这一群体的大多数研究都依赖于小的便利样本。这项研究比较了居住在南方的女同性恋者与普通人群中具有代表性的妇女的健康行为和卫生保健利用情况。我们对1,141名19岁及以上的南方女同性恋者进行了一项基于网络的调查。我们将研究的描述性结果与美国疾病控制和预防中心的行为风险因素监测系统进行了比较。我们还计算了调整后的Logistic回归模型，以进一步探索南方女同性恋女性身心健康的相关因素。南部女同性恋者身体健康状况不佳的可能性较小，但比普通人群中的女性更有可能经历最近的抑郁症。与其他南方和非南方女性相比，女同性恋者报告了更危险的健康行为。南方女同性恋者和其他南方妇女在常规保健方面遇到了类似的障碍，包括缺乏医疗保险，没有固定的提供者，以及由于费用而不得不放弃保健。这些健康行为和护理障碍中的许多与南方女同性恋者的身心健康不良有关。南部女同性恋者的健康行为模式和对护理的利用可能会使他们与一般人群相比面临更大的负面健康后果风险。
Purpose. Lesbian women are more likely to experience negative physical and mental health outcomes compared with heterosexual women, although most research on this population has relied on small convenience samples. This study compared health behaviors and health care utilization among lesbian women living in the South to representative subsamples of women from the general population.Methods. We conducted a Web-based survey of 1,141 self-identified lesbian women aged 19 and older living in the South. We compared descriptive results from our study to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We also calculated adjusted logistic regression models to further explore correlates of Southern lesbian women's physical and mental health.Main Findings. Southern lesbians were less likely to be in poor physical health, but more likely to experience recent depression than women in the general population. Lesbians reported more risky health behaviors relative to other Southern and non-Southern women. Southern lesbians and other Southern women experienced similar barriers to routine health care, including lack of health insurance, not having a regular provider, and having to forgo care owing to cost. Many of these health behaviors and barriers to care were associated with poor physical and mental health among Southern lesbians.Conclusion. Southern lesbians' patterns of health behaviors and utilization of care may place them at increased risk for negative health outcomes relative to the general population.