Gay men have a higher incidence of cancer than heterosexual and homosexual and bisexual women who have survived cancer not enjoy as good health as heterosexuals. That's according to an article published today in the journal Cancer . The Journal of the American Cancer Society said the research, directed by Ulrike Boehmer, School of Public Health at Boston University (Massachusetts), emphasizes the need for specific programs and services for the care of cancer survivors they are gay or bisexual.
So far in studies of cancer patients have not been asked about sexual orientation and therefore had little information about how many of these survivors are identified as gay or bisexual. Boehme and his team examined the survival rates of sexual orientation in California, and investigated how the health of survivors differs depending on sexual orientation.
The study included data from the California Health Interview Survey in 2001, 2003 and 2005, the largest collection of health data in a U.S. state. In the survey a total of seven thousand 252 thousand 690 women and three men reported having a diagnosis of cancer as adults.
The researchers found no significant differences in the incidence of cancer according to sexual orientation among women, but lesbians and bisexuals were from 2 to 2.3 times more likely to realize a fair or poor health, compared with heterosexual cancer survivors.
Among men, gay men were 1.9 times more prone to cancer than heterosexuals. But the health conditions of the survivors did not differ significantly by sexual orientation. "This information could be used to develop services for gay and bisexual population," Boehmer said, adding that in particular, "we need programs for homosexuals focused on prevention and early detection of cancer. And since more lesbians and bisexual men with cancer report having poor health, we need programs and services that improve the welfare of these survivors, "he concluded.
0 comments:
Post a Comment