School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations

Effect of Sexual orientation on the rate of heart attack

Document Type

Poster

Keywords

LGB; Sexual orientation; Smoking; Depression; Cardiovascular Health

Publication Date

Spring 2017

Abstract

Background:

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals often face discrimination that can negatively impact their health. Much of the previous literature has identified several relationships between sexual orientation and mental health, sexually transmitted diseases and substance abuse. However, as cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in LGB adults, very limited research has been conducted in this area. Previous studies have shown the increased prevalence of hypertension and heart disease in gay men compared to heterosexual men. Another study has shown that LGB adolescents had higher rates of smoking and alcohol abuse, predisposing them to cardiovascular disease. Our study aims to examine the association between heart attack and the various sexual orientations in a cross-sectional analysis of a large database of subjects in the United States.

Methods:

A cross-sectional analysis was performed in the database of 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which contains 441,456 subjects with an age of 18 years or older, to study the association between reported sexual orientation and heart attack. Initially, a chi-square test was used to examine and compare the binary variables of demographic and health characteristics between subjects with different sexual orientation. We then used logistic regression models to estimate the adjusted odds ratio of heart attack for subjects with different sexual orientation in comparison to straight subjects.

Results:

Univariate analysis revealed that compared to straight individuals, LGB subjects are younger, more likely to smoke cigarettes, and with similar weight distribution and rates of depression. LGB subjects are less likely to have diabetes, hypertension, and anxiety. We constructed three logistic regression models. The first model showed that LGB subjects have lower odds ratios for heart attack without adjustment for other risk factors [OR=0.699, P-value <0.001] and [OR=0.827, p-value <0.001]. The second model also showed that LGB subjects have lower odds ratios for heart attack after adjustment for DM, HTN, HLD, and CKD [OR=0.806, p-value = 0.002] and [OR=0.86, p-value=0.008]. The final model did not show any difference between LGB and straight subjects after only adjusting for age.

Conclusions:

There is no difference in the rate of heart attack between LGB and straight subjects after adjustment for age. Nonetheless, this study revealed that LGB subjects have a higher rate of smoking and depression, which are known to increase the risk of CHD. Therefore, intervention programs should be developed to reduce tobacco use and to address depression among these groups.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Open Access

1

Comments

Poster to be presented at GW Annual Research Days 2017.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 

Effect of Sexual orientation on the rate of heart attack

Background:

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals often face discrimination that can negatively impact their health. Much of the previous literature has identified several relationships between sexual orientation and mental health, sexually transmitted diseases and substance abuse. However, as cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in LGB adults, very limited research has been conducted in this area. Previous studies have shown the increased prevalence of hypertension and heart disease in gay men compared to heterosexual men. Another study has shown that LGB adolescents had higher rates of smoking and alcohol abuse, predisposing them to cardiovascular disease. Our study aims to examine the association between heart attack and the various sexual orientations in a cross-sectional analysis of a large database of subjects in the United States.

Methods:

A cross-sectional analysis was performed in the database of 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which contains 441,456 subjects with an age of 18 years or older, to study the association between reported sexual orientation and heart attack. Initially, a chi-square test was used to examine and compare the binary variables of demographic and health characteristics between subjects with different sexual orientation. We then used logistic regression models to estimate the adjusted odds ratio of heart attack for subjects with different sexual orientation in comparison to straight subjects.

Results:

Univariate analysis revealed that compared to straight individuals, LGB subjects are younger, more likely to smoke cigarettes, and with similar weight distribution and rates of depression. LGB subjects are less likely to have diabetes, hypertension, and anxiety. We constructed three logistic regression models. The first model showed that LGB subjects have lower odds ratios for heart attack without adjustment for other risk factors [OR=0.699, P-value <0.001] and [OR=0.827, p-value <0.001]. The second model also showed that LGB subjects have lower odds ratios for heart attack after adjustment for DM, HTN, HLD, and CKD [OR=0.806, p-value = 0.002] and [OR=0.86, p-value=0.008]. The final model did not show any difference between LGB and straight subjects after only adjusting for age.

Conclusions:

There is no difference in the rate of heart attack between LGB and straight subjects after adjustment for age. Nonetheless, this study revealed that LGB subjects have a higher rate of smoking and depression, which are known to increase the risk of CHD. Therefore, intervention programs should be developed to reduce tobacco use and to address depression among these groups.