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New report shows bisexuals face major health risks by Ethan Jacobs
associate editorTuesday Nov 18, 2008 CORRECTION: Bay Windows initially attributed the study to the Fenway Community Health Center. The study was in fact authored by Kerith Jane Conron, Stewart Landers and Matthew Mimiaga.
A group of researchers funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Williams Project at UCLA will release a report Nov. 20 showing that in Massachusetts LGB people face great health disparities compared to their straight neighbors. Bisexuals in particular face a range of health disparities, even compared to lesbian and gay people. Study authors Kerith Jane Conron and Stewart Landers presented the report to the Public Health Council of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Nov. 12; Conron and Landers conducted the study in collaboration with Matthew Mimiaga. A press release from Fenway Community Health highlights the different health risks facing LGB people found in the survey:
Bisexual Massachusetts residents were more likely than heterosexual residents to lack health insurance, lack a primary care doctor, lack dental cleaning in the past 12 months, be limited by a disability, report a lifetime diagnosis of heart disease, report current depressive and anxiety-related symptoms, report that they seriously considered suicide, be current smokers, and report having been sexually assaulted in the prior 12 months and/or in their lifetime. Bisexual women were more likely to report use of illegal drugs compared to heterosexual women.
Lesbian women in Massachusetts are more likely to be obese compared to straight women.
Compared to their straight counterparts, gays and lesbians in Massachusetts were more likely to report a disability-related activity limitation, anxiety-related symptoms, being a current smoker, binge drinking and illicit drug use, lifetime sexual assault, and a lifetime asthma diagnosis.
The release gave no theories on why bi people would face so many greater risks than other people. The survey collected responses from 38,910 people, 1.9 percent of whom identified as gay or lesbian and one percent who identified as bisexual.
Ethan Jacobs can be reached at ejacobs@baywindows.com

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