In the first large-scale study of its kind in WA, Curtin University of Technology’s Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research (WACHPR) has found that lesbian and bisexual women in WA are less healthy than heterosexual women in key health and lifestyle measures.

The study conducted between October 2006 and January 2007 surveyed 928 participants in the key health areas of community connectedness; nutrition and physical activity; cancer screening, alcohol, tobaccos and other drug use; harassment and abuse; experiences of discrimination and harassment; mental health; sexual practice and ‘safe sex’; and health service utilisation.

Ms Jude Comfort, from the WACHPR, presented the findings of the study at the Western Australian Public Health Association (PHA) Conference on 2 November 2007 and highlighted the importance of this study in addressing the lack of research in this often overlooked social minority.

“This study is an important starting point for further research into the health and well being of lesbians and bisexual women in WA,” Ms Comfort said.

“Only limited research has been done into the health needs of lesbian and bisexual women and nothing on this scale in WA, and despite similar studies from other countries also finding poorer health in lesbian and bisexual women, health systems have been slow to respond and are seldom constructed with sexual minorities in mind.

“It could be argued that sexual orientation is indeed a social determinant of health. Lesbians, gay and bisexual populations in general have poorer health outcomes than their heterosexual peers. Yet there are few targeted programs which deal with general healthy lifestyle issues with this population.”

The study was funded by a Healthway research starter grant and among other insights the study has revealed that a third of participants felt very/mostly connected to the gay community while over half felt very/mostly connected to the broader community.

In addition, a large number of women did not eat enough healthy foods with 53% of participants eating junk food once or twice a week, and one fifth of women surveyed overweight and 23% obese. The study found that lesbian and bisexual women are also insufficiently active for health benefit.

In terms of cancer screening, more lesbians and bisexual women need regular Pap smears with only slightly more than half the participants reported having a Pap smear in the last two years.

Lesbians and bisexual women were found to also smoke more, and consume more alcohol more frequently than women in the general community. More than a quarter of participants were smokers – roughly double the general rate for women. Three in 10 women exceeded the national alcohol guidelines on a weekly basis.

In the area of mental health, about a third of women had been diagnosed with depression by a doctor and one in five reported current treatment for a mental health problem. Both these rates are higher than the wider female community.

“We hope that this study will provide important guidance to future public health programs targeting the lesbian and bisexual women population, and provide a starting point for further in-depth research that results in an improvement in the way the health needs of these women are addressed,” Ms Comfort said.