title: Selected Diagnosed Chronic Conditions by Sexual Orientation: A National Study of US Adults, 2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research is needed on chronic health conditions among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations. The objective of this study was to examine 10 diagnosed chronic conditions, and multiple (≥2) chronic conditions (MCC), by sexual orientation among US adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2013 National Health Interview Survey was used to generate age-adjusted prevalence rates and adjusted odds ratios of diagnosed chronic conditions and MCC for civilian, noninstitutionalized US adults who identified as gay/lesbian, straight, or bisexual, and separately for men and women. Chronic conditions were selected for this study on the basis of previous research.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertension and arthritis were the most prevalent conditions for all groups. Gay/lesbian adults had a 4.7 percentage-point higher prevalence of cancer than bisexual adults, and a 5.6 percentage-point higher prevalence of arthritis and a 2.9 percentage point higher prevalence of hepatitis than straight adults. The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was 8.1 percentage points higher among bisexual adults than among gay/lesbian adults and 7.0 percentage points higher than among straight adults. These differences remained in the multivariate analyses. Additional differences were found in the sex-stratified analyses. No significant differences were found in MCC by sexual orientation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After age adjustment and controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, only a few significant health disparities for diagnosed chronic conditions were found by sexual orientation, and none for MCC. However, for conditions where differences were found, magnitudes were relatively large. Further examination of these differences among gay/lesbian and bisexual adults could yield a better understanding of why these disparities exist.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Rd, Hyattsville, MD 20782. E-mail: bwward@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Sarah S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Joestl
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Adena M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Galinsky
authors.affiliation: National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dahlhamer
mesh_terms: D001168:Arthritis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019529:Sexuality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States