There were insufficient numbers of post-menopausal women to estimate risk so the analyses were restricted to pre-menopausal women and the authors noted that disparities in risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal LB women may be different to those observed in the study. lists studies assessing the percentages of individual risk factors in LB women compared to heterosexual women where risk models were not used to combine results. This is because the first three studies compared lesbian survey results to the full national survey results whereas the second two studies had sexual orientation measured within national surveys so could compare within the survey itself.

Sample size – power depends on number of events so if a general population sample needs large numbers or long follow up or both. Unfortunately, the results of the survey that had asked about breast cancer in the previous year were not reported in the journal article and the original report was no longer available, (Personal communication, Anne Pinchak, Houston Lesbian Health Initiative, February 2010). Unfortunately the numbers given for participants in the methods section does not match the explanation in the results section, which does not give confidence in the reliability of the results. Pregnancy – lesbians are less likely to have biological children before age 30, which would offer some protection against cancer.

Results: Lesbian women had lower mean scores on the anxious preoccupation and cognitive avoidance subscales ( p < 0.

Boehmer U, Ozonoff A, Timm A: County-level association of sexual minority density with breast cancer incidence: results from an ecological study.However, there was not full disclosure of sexual orientation in Case 2004 and Valanis 2000, suggested by the small percentage of lesbians in Case 2004, and that in Valanis 2000 some 2. Quality of life, fertility concerns, and behavioral health outcomes in younger breast cancer survivors: A systematic review.

Lesbian-identified women scored lower on fighting spirit—an active coping strategy associated with better mental adjustment to cancer—compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Consistent with the literature, 45 was used as the cut point to differentiate breast cancer diagnoses of older women (defined as 45 and older) from younger women with “early-onset breast cancer,” who are likely premenopausal, within child bearing years, and for whom role conflicts related to parenting and education are most likely. For some of these risk factors, it is unclear whether the factor itself is linked with incidence, or whether the factor is correlated with another causative factor. Although the recruitment strategy is not clear, it seems likely that participants were recruited on the basis of being lesbians with breast cancer, or with an interest in breast cancer.This allowed us to examine the effect of breast cancer timing on the associations between life course factors and coping. Overall, this sample of women was characterized by adaptive coping strategies; thus, limited variability in the coping outcomes may explain some of the null findings. There seems to be discrepancy around the number of included women as the report mentions 6178 responses whereas a recent unpublished report by Dr Julie Fish (Coming out about breast cancer, 2009) mentions “a study of 5909 LB women”. Having children mediated the association between lesbian identity and anxious preoccupation, but only among women diagnosed at younger ages.

Women were also asked to self-report cancer disease stage at the time of interview and type of treatments received, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and/or hormone therapy ( e.

Breast cancer survivors of different sexual orientations: Which factors explain survivors' quality of life and adjustment?