CVD Risk Factors and Sexual Identity in Women

描述(申请人提供)：冠心病(CHD)是居住在美国的女性死亡的主要原因，不分种族和民族，也可能是女同性恋者死亡的主要原因。然而，自1994年以来，国家精神卫生研究所、疾病控制和预防中心、美国医学会、美国公共卫生协会和医学研究所(IOM)在各种报告中指出，影响女同性恋妇女的卫生保健和健康研究不足。作为女性，女同性恋者有许多与所有女性相同的健康问题。然而，正如国际移民组织在关于女同性恋者健康的报告中强调的那样，“认为会使妇女面临健康障碍风险或保护她们免受健康障碍危害的因素可能不存在于女同性恋者的相同水平或以同样的方式发挥作用”。国际移民组织的报告还承认，“自认为是女同性恋者的女性可能也会感受到异性恋女性所不常见的压力”，“了解女同性恋者独有的因素及其对女同性恋者健康的影响是很重要的”。家庭调查和利用便利抽样进行的研究确实存在的数据表明，自认为女同性恋的妇女可能与异性恋妇女在促进CHD发展的几个重要因素上有所不同。然而，到目前为止，还没有对认定为女同性恋者的大样本妇女的冠心病风险进行全面检查，也没有检查她们的风险因素模式或总体风险可能与人口统计学上相似的异性恋妇女样本有何不同。该项目的总体目标是在500名自我确认的女同性恋者和500名异性恋妇女的样本中检查冠心病患病率和危险因素模式的潜在差异，这些样本在年龄、社会经济地位和种族方面匹配。该项目的第二个目标是使用标准化的风险模型来确定女同性恋者患冠心病的风险是否增加。具体来说， 1.我们将检验女同性恋者和异性恋女性之间冠心病危险因素的患病率和模式不同的假设。 2.我们将根据Framingham多风险因素评估方程确定CHD的绝对和相对风险估计，并检验女同性恋者与异性恋女性相比患CHD风险增加的假设。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of mortality among women living in the United States, regardless of race and ethnicity and is likely the leading cause of mortality among lesbians. However, in various reports since 1994, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American MedicalAssociation, the American Public Health Association, and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have pointed out that health care and health research affecting lesbian women are inadequate. As women, lesbians share many of the same health concerns of all women. However, as emphasized in the IOM Report on Lesbian Health "factors assumed to place women at risk for or to protect them against health disorders may not be present at the same levels or operate in the same way for lesbians". The IOM report also recognizes that "women who self-identify as lesbian may also experience stressors not commonly faced by heterosexual women" and that "it is important to understand the factors that areunique to lesbians and their impact on lesbians' health". Data which do exist from household surveys and studies utilizing convenience samples indicate that women who identify as lesbian may differ from heterosexual women in several important factors which contribute to the development of CHD. However, to date there has not been a comprehensive examination of CHD risk in a large sample of women who identify as lesbian or an examination of how their pattern of risk factors or overall risk for CHD may differ from a sample of demographically similar heterosexual women. The overall goal of this project is to examine potential differences in the prevalence and pattern of risk factors for CHD in a sample of 500 self-identified lesbians and 500 heterosexual women, matched for age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. A secondary goal of this project is to determine if lesbians are at increased risk of CHD using a standardized risk model. Specifically, 1. We will test the hypotheses that the prevalence and pattern of CHD risk factors are different between lesbians and heterosexual women. 2. We will determine the absolute and relative risk estimates for CHD based on the Framingham multiple-risk-factor assessment equations, and test the hypothesis that lesbians are at increased risk of CHD compared to heterosexual women.