Sexual minority men (SMM) are more likely than heterosexual men to have chronic illnesses.
This is according to a study – “Higher Risk of Many Physical Health Conditions in Sexual Minority Men: Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Gay- and Bisexual-Identified Compared with Heterosexual-Identified Men” by Lena Haarmann, Emma Lieker, Ann-Kristin Folkerts, et al – that appeared in LGBT Health.
For this study, the researchers did a systematic literature search in the databases MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and Web of Science, focusing on epidemiological studies on physical health conditions, classified in the Global Burden of Disease project and published between 2000 and 2021. Meta-analyses comparing odds ratios were calculated.
In total, 23,649 abstracts were screened, and 32 studies were included in the systematic review.
Some of the key findings included:
- The largest differences in prevalence by sexual identity were found for chronic respiratory diseases, particularly asthma: overall, SMM were almost 50% more likely to suffer from asthma than heterosexual men.
- Evidence of higher prevalence was also found for chronic kidney diseases and headache disorders in gay men and for hepatitis B/C in both gay and bisexual men.
- There’s an overall trend that bisexual men were more affected by some of the physical health conditions compared with gay men (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, asthma). However, regarding cancer, headache disorders, and hepatitis, gay men were more affected.
“We found evidence of physical health disparities by sexual identity, suggesting more health issues in SMM,” the researchers stressed.
For the researchers, therefore, efforts should “routinely include€ sexual identity assessment in health research and clinical practice.”
