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Perceived risk for cancer in an urban sexual minority

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Abstract

Lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are a sexual minority experiencing elevated cancer risk factors and health disaparites, e.g., elevated tobacco use, disproportionate rates of infection with human immunodeficiency virus. Little attention has been paid to cancer prevention, education, and control in sexual minorities. This study describes cancer risk perceptions and their correlates so as to generate testable hypotheses and provide a foundation for targeting cancer prevention and risk reduction efforts in this high risk population. A cross-sectional survey of affiliates of a large urban community center serving sexual minority persons yielded a study sample of 247 anonymous persons. The survey assessed demographics, absolute perceived cancer risk, cancer risk behaviors, desired lifestyle changes to reduce cancer risk, and psychosocial variables including stress, depression, and stigma. Univariate and multivariate nonparametric statistics were used for analyses. The sample was primarily white non-Hispanic, middle-aged, and > 80% had at least a high school education. Mean values for absolute perceived cancer risk (range 0–100% risk), were 43.0 (SD = 25.4) for females, and for males, 49.3 (SD = 24.3). For females, although the multivariate regression model for absolute perceived cancer risk was statistically significant (P < .05), no single model variable was significant. For men, the multivariate regression model was significant (P < .001), with endorsement of “don’t smoke/quit smoking” to reduce personal cancer risk (P < .001), and greater number of sexual partners (P = .054), positively associated with absolute perceived risk for cancer. This study provides novel data on cancer risk perceptions in sexual minorities, identifying correlates of absolute perceived cancer risk for each gender and several potential foci for cancer prevention interventions with this at-risk group.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Cancer Institute Grants R03 CA103485 and T32 CA009461. Dr. Burkhalter has received support from the LGBT Community Center as consultant on smoking cessation projects. All other authors report no competing interests. We gratefully acknowledge the counsel of Drs. Icek Ajzen and Margaret Rosario in study methodology and the assistance of Katherine Rowland, Meir Flancbaum, and Christopher Murray in study implementation, and Christopher Webster in manuscript preparation.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 641 Lexington Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY, 10022-4503, USA

    Jack E. Burkhalter, Jennifer L. Hay, Yuelin Li & Jamie S. Ostroff

  2. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 195 Little Albany Street, 5th Floor, Room 5567, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    Elliot Coups

  3. Hunter College Institute for LGBT Social Science & Public Policy, 695 Park Avenue, Rm 1305, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Barbara Warren

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Burkhalter, J.E., Hay, J.L., Coups, E. et al. Perceived risk for cancer in an urban sexual minority. J Behav Med 34, 157–169 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-010-9296-2

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