Wednesday, June 07, 2023

LGBTQ+

Health equity is the focus of LBGTQ+ Pride Month celebrations across the country


As Pride Month is commemorated by the LGBTQ+ community and allies, the American Heart Association seeks to increase awareness of the importance of health and wellness for all

Business Announcement

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION



DALLAS, June 6, 2023 — According to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, lesbian and bisexual women in France had poorer heart health than heterosexual women, a finding that could be attributed to discrimination and other stressors faced by the LGBTQ+ community. In support of Pride Month, the American Heart Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives for all, is promoting awareness and health education for all people across the spectrum of diversity, including those who identify as LGBTQ+.

For more than 50 years, the LGBTQ+ community has spent the month of June marching to commemorate its struggle and fight against discrimination in health care, employment, and housing across the country and around the globe. According to the American Heart Association’s 2021 scientific statement “Assessing and Addressing Cardiovascular Health in People Who Are Transgender and Gender Diverse”, higher levels of heart disease among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people are linked to the stress of experiencing discrimination and transphobia at personal and societal levels. This population faces unique personal stressors that often result in negative coping behaviors that may complicate an individual’s cardiovascular health including a poor diet, elevated body mass index[1], low physical activity[2], and a smoking rate up to 2.5 times higher than heterosexual and cisgender adults[3].

“Recognizing and addressing the health care needs specific to the LGBTQ+ community is vital to the American Heart Association’s mission,” said volunteer president of the American Heart Association Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, who is the Walter A Haas-Lucie Stern Endowed Chair and professor of medicine, director of the CeNter for the StUdy of AdveRsiTy and CardiovascUlaR DiseasE (NURTURE Center) and associate dean of admissions at the University of California, San Francisco. “More research and advocacy are needed to understand this community’s unique health challenges. The Association is helping fill in the gap by funding innovative research, advocating for public health equity and sharing easily accessible lifesaving resources.”

The first step in improving cardiovascular health is knowing and understanding current risks. Since better cardiovascular health helps lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes and other major health problems, the American Heart Association has defined key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health. Life’s Essential 8, focuses on eating better, increasing physical activity, quitting smoking, and improving sleep habits, while also recommending steps that can be taken to reach a healthy weight, control cholesterol, and manage both blood sugar and blood pressure.

Science-based downloadable resources are available to provide guidance to address each of the eight points. For example, they include information about how to read food labels, avoid trans fats, set physical activity goals and provide successful tips to quit smoking and reduce tech activity before going to sleep. Education about health risk factors and incorporating and addressing these eight items may be the key to improving and maintaining cardiovascular health as they provide a foundation for living a longer, healthier life.

The Association supports public policies that improve access to quality, affordable health care, including provisions of the Affordable Care Act that have increased the number of people with quality health coverage. We also support policies that prevent the tobacco industry from targeting LGBTQ+ communities and others with deadly tobacco products. We work to educate youth and young adults who are LGBTQ+ and their allies about the importance of advocating for such policies.

Additional Resources:

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About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.   

​[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5343694/

[2] Assessing and Addressing Cardiovascular Health in LGBTQ Adults: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association | Circulation (ahajournals.org)

[3] https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/18/4/275.long?subject=


Women who identify as bisexual women at higher risk of suicide and suicide attempts, study finds


Peer-Reviewed Publication

YORK UNIVERSITY



Toronto, ON, June 7, 2023 – Women who identify as bisexual were more than three times more likely to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual women, according to a new study by a group of researchers at York University and ICES published online today.

The research, which is the first to link population-based survey data with health records for over 123,000 individuals, also found that gay men and gay women/lesbians were twice as likely to attempt suicide, both fatal and non-fatal, which the team refers to as a suicide-related behaviour (SRB) event, compared to heterosexual individuals. The findings point to an urgent need for better mental health supports within the LGBTQ+ community.

“We wanted to better characterize the disparity in suicide-related behaviours across sexual orientations and gender,” says lead author Antony Chum, a Faculty of Health assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Population Health Data Science at York University and adjunct scientist at ICES. “Prior research on suicide attempts has mostly relied on self-reported data from surveys, which means we don’t have information on people who are too sick to participate or have died by suicide.”

Published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study looked at Ontario participants from the Canadian Community Health Survey, which was linked to anonymous administrative health data such as emergency room visits or hospitalizations for non-fatal self-harm and fatal suicide events between 2002 and 2019.

The researchers, who include York University postdoctoral fellows Gabriel John Dusing and Chungah Kim, found:

  • Overall prevalence of one or more SRB events was around two per cent in heterosexual individuals, five per cent in gay/lesbian individuals, and eight per cent in bisexual individuals.
  • Sexual minority individuals were at higher risk of SRB events, ranging from 2.10 to 4.23 times more likely when compared to heterosexual people.
  • After adjusting for age and gender, the risk of a SRB event was more than three times greater among bisexual individuals, and this risk was most pronounced for bisexual women.

“The higher risk for bisexual women could be attributed to greater discrimination that bisexual people face within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as higher rates of violence, trauma, and caregiving burden that bisexual women may experience in opposite-sex relationships,” says Chum.


One limitation of the study is that data were not available for non-binary individuals and sexual orientations such as asexual and queer. Nevertheless, this was the first study to use a large representative sample linked with medical records, which improves the generalizability of the findings for other regions and populations.

“The study shows a clear need for better funding, policy and programming to address LGBTQ+ suicide risk,” says Chum. “We also need increased training for healthcare workers to address LGBTQ+ suicide risk. Further, we want to encourage hospitals and clinics to collect sexual orientation data as part of routine patient care.”

Chum also notes the increasing creep of healthcare privatization and that publicly funded mental health supports need to be increased not just for LGBTQ+ people, but across the board.

The findings align with the authors’ related study published in March in PLOS One, which found that both sexual minority status and residing in under-resourced neighbourhoods with poor access to healthcare, were independent risk factors for suicide-related behaviours. Future research needs to explore interventions that improve the mental health of LGBTQ+ people while addressing social determinants of health, such as neighbourhood-level disparities and barriers to healthcare.

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York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. York's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. York’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future. 

ICES is an independent, non-profit research institute that uses population-based health information to produce knowledge on a broad range of healthcare issues. Our unbiased evidence provides measures of health system performance, a clearer understanding of the shifting healthcare needs of Ontarians, and a stimulus for discussion of practical solutions to optimize scarce resources. ICES knowledge is highly regarded in Canada and abroad and is widely used by government, hospitals, planners, and practitioners to make decisions about care delivery and to develop policy. In October 2018, the institute formerly known as the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences formally adopted the initialism ICES as its official name. For the latest ICES news, follow us on Twitter: @ICESOntario

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Emina Gamulin,
York University Media Relations,
437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

Misty Pratt
Senior Communications Officer, ICES
Misty.Pratt@ices.on.ca 613-882-7065

JOURNAL

American Journal of Psychiatry

ARTICLE TITLE

Disparities in Suicide-Related Behaviors Across Sexual Orientations by Gender: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Linked Health Administrative Data

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Jun-2023

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