The researchers mapped cancer risk with habits such as smoking, drinking and sedentary lifestyle
A new study has found that higher prevalence of lifestyle risk factors such as alcohol consumption and smoking make the LGBTQ population more prone to cancer.
“People within the LGBTQ+ population have a higher prevalence of smoking, obesity, and alcohol consumption compared to heterosexual and cisgender people, suggesting a higher cancer burden. Health systems have an opportunity to help inform these disparities through the routine collection of information on sexual orientation and gender identity to facilitate cancer surveillance and to mitigate them through education to increase awareness of LGBTQ+ health needs,” researchers reported in the journal of the American Cancer Society.
The researchers also reported that 16% lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults smoke compared to 12% among heterosexuals. The largest disparity is among bisexual women with 34% bisexual women aged 40–49 years and 24% of those 50 and older smoke compared to 12% and 11%, respectively, of heterosexual women. “Smoking is also elevated among youth who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (4%) or transgender (5%) compared to heterosexual or cisgender (1%). Excess body weight is elevated among lesbian and bisexual women (68% vs. 61% among heterosexual women), largely due to higher obesity prevalence among bisexual women (43% vs. 38% among lesbian women and 33% among heterosexual women),” the researchers reported.
Bisexual women also have a higher prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity (35% vs. 28% among heterosexual women), as do transgender individuals (30%–31% vs. 21%–25% among cisgender individuals), the paper recorded Heavier alcohol intake among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals is confined to bisexual women, with 14% consuming more than 7 drinks/week versus 6% of heterosexual women. In contrast, prevalence of cancer screening and risk reducing vaccinations in LGBTQ+ individuals is similar to or higher than their heterosexual/cisgender counterparts except for lower cervical and colorectal cancer screening among transgender men.
The researchers used US federal data from 2020-2022 for the analysis of the lifestyles of various groups of people.
