Journal article
Cancer Risk Factors, Diagnosis and Sexual Identity in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health
Rhonda Brown, Ruth McNair, Laura Szalacha, Patricia M Livingston, Tonda Hughes
WOMENS HEALTH ISSUES | ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC | Published : 2015
Abstract
PURPOSE: We sought to examine cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, and related risk factors among Australian, middle-aged, exclusively heterosexual women compared with sexual minority women (SMW; mainly heterosexual, bisexual, mainly lesbian, and lesbian). METHODS: Secondary data analysis of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health for women born in 1946 through 1951 (n = 10,451) included bivariate tests (i.e., contingency table analyses, independent t tests). RESULTS: SMW did not have significantly higher cancer diagnoses compared with exclusively heterosexual women, although they were more likely to report never having had a mammogram or pap smear. SMW were also significantly mor..
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Awarded by Lesbian Health Fund, USA
Funding Acknowledgements
The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health (ALSWH), a 20-year longitudinal study of Australian women by The University of Newcastle and The University of Queensland. The ALSWH methods were approved by the Human Research Ethics Committees of The University of Newcastle and The University of Queensland. The ALSWH was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. The authors also acknowledge and thank the Lesbian Health Fund, USA (grant 0000023715), and the Faculty of Health, Deakin University for funding to support our research. Dr Rhonda Brown, the principal investigator, had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. No financial interest to disclose.