American Journal of Public Health, Vol 91, Issue 6 972-975, Copyright © 2001 by American Public Health Association

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Behavioral risk factors for disease and preventive health practices among lesbians

DJ Aaron, N Markovic, ME Danielson, JA Honnold, JE Janosky and NJ Schmidt
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA. debaaron@pitt.edu

OBJECTIVES: This study compared the prevalence of health behaviors among lesbians and in the general population of women. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional community-based survey of 1010 self-identified lesbians 18 years or older. RESULTS: Compared with the general population of women, lesbians were more likely to report cigarette use, alcohol use, and heavy alcohol use. A higher percentage of lesbians were categorized as overweight, and lesbians were more likely to participate in vigorous physical activity. They were less likely to report having had a Papanicolaou test within the past 2 years but more likely to report ever having had a mammogram. CONCLUSIONS: While there may be differences in health behaviors between lesbians and the general population of women, how these differences influence the risk of subsequent disease is unknown.

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