Researchers have found that individuals who are identified as a sexual minority had lower odds of ever undergoing Pap testing compared with heterosexual individuals. The findings of the study were published in the Cancer journal. According to the scientists, the outcomes of the study appeared consistent across specific sexual minority groups, which reported the lowest uptake among Hispanic sexual minority individuals.
“Our team was made up of individuals dedicated to health disparities, as well as individuals dedicated to gynecologic cancer research. We wanted to expand on what was known in the field to identify how disparities in cervical cancer research may be exacerbated when we look at multiple identities that are oppressed by our society,” Ashley E. Stenzel, PhD, MS, researcher at Allina Health in Minneapolis said.
While conducting the study, the investigators used data from the National Health Interview Survey between 2015 and 2018 to assess disparities in cervical cancer screening among a cohort of 877 natal females aged 21 to 65 years without a history of hysterectomy who reported their sexual orientation and Pap testing history. Moreover, the team of scientists compared these sexual minority individuals with a cohort of heterosexual individuals (n = 17,760), adjusting for differences in confounding variables between the groups using propensity score-based inverse probability of treatment weighting.
The researchers found that sexual minority individuals had significantly lower odds of ever undergoing Pap testing. Moreover, both white and Hispanic sexual minority individuals had lower odds of ever undergoing Pap testing compared with white heterosexual individuals when researchers considered the intersection of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity. However, researchers observed no significant differences between white heterosexual individuals and Black or Hispanic heterosexual individuals.
“Our analysis showed that most individuals who self-identify as belonging to a sexual minority group had lower uptake of cervical cancer screening, but that this was more pronounced among those who identified as both Hispanic and belonging to a sexual minority group,” Stenzel said.
According to Stenzel, these results are highly concerning, given that cervical cancer screening can reduce the severity of the disease.
“We need to continue to examine disparities at the intersection of multiple societally oppressed identities, how systemic discrimination plays a role in these disparities, and the additional barriers that individuals face with respect to cancer screening access. Together, these can guide institutional and policy level changes for better serving these populations,” she added.
