 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Susan D. Cochran, PhD, MS, Epidemiology, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles Young Drive, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, (310) 206-9310, cochran@ucla.edu, Vickie M. Mays, PhD, MSPH, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, and Sarah Andrea Burgard, MA, Departments of Sociology and Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 264 Haines Hall, 375 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551.
Recent population-based surveys of American women have shown that homosexually active women are more likely to evidence dysfunctional alcohol use than heterosexually classified women. However, limitations in sample size have precluded investigation of possible modifiers of this effect, including age. We use data from a large population-based sample of 10,905 sexually experienced women in California recruited via RDD telephone sampling techniques. All women were interviewed about their patterns of alcohol use in the prior month and their sexual behavior histories. Approximately 3% of women (n=341) reported at least one prior female sexual partner. In statistical comparisons between those reporting any female sexual partners and those indicating only male sexual partners, after controlling for demographic confounding, we observed a higher prevalence of alcohol use, both in terms of frequency and amount, among homosexually classified women as compared to heterosexually classified women. Further, homosexually classified women were more likely to report engaging in binge drinking (consumption of 5 or more drinks in one drinking occasion at least once but less than 5 times in the prior month). However, these differences varied across the lifespan and were most pronounced among women aged 26 to 35 years. At all other ages, alcohol use patterns among probable lesbian and bisexual women, though higher than among probable heterosexual women, failed to obtain statistical significance. These findings suggest some delay in normative tapering off of alcohol consumption across the life span among lesbians and bisexual women, perhaps due to relatively lower rates of childbearing.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alcohol Use, Lesbian
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.