Sex and sexual orientation in relation to tobacco use among young adult college students in the US: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundSexual minority young adults represent a high-risk population for tobacco use. This study examined cigarette and alternative tobacco product (ATP) use prevalence across sexual orientation (heterosexual, gay/lesbian, and bisexual) among college-attending young adult men and women, respectively.MethodsBaseline data from a two-year longitudinal study of 3386 young adult college students aged 18–25 in Georgia were analyzed. Correlates examined included sociodemographics (age, sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, college type, and parental education). Outcomes included past 30-day use of tobacco (cigarette, little cigars/cigarillos [LCCs], e-cigarettes, hookah, any tobacco product used, and number of tobacco products used, respectively). Two-group, multivariate multiple regression models were used to examine predictors of tobacco use among men and women, respectively.ResultsAmong men (N = 1207), 34.7% used any tobacco product; 18.6% cigarettes; 12.3% LCCs; 16.8% e-cigarettes; and 14.7% hookah. Controlling for sociodemographics, gay sexual orientation (OR = 1.62, p = 0.012) was associated with higher odds of cigarette use; no other significant associations were found between sexual orientation and tobacco use. Among women (N = 2179), 25.3% used any tobacco product; 10.4% cigarettes; 10.6% LCCs; 7.6% e-cigarettes; and 10.8% hookah. Being bisexual was associated with cigarette (p < 0.001), LCC (p < 0.001), and e-cigarette use (p = 0.006). Lesbian sexual orientation was associated with cigarette (p = 0.032) and LCC use (p < 0.001). Being bisexual predicted any tobacco product used (p = 0.002), as well as number of tobacco products used (p = 0.004). Group comparisons showed that the effect of sexual minority status on LCC use was significantly different for men versus women.ConclusionSexual minority women, especially bisexual women, are at higher risk for using specific tobacco products compared to heterosexual women; homosexual men are at increased risk of cigarette use compared to heterosexual men. These nuances in tobacco use should inform interventions targeting sexual minorities.

Cigarette smoking, ENDS use and dual use among a national sample of lesbians, gays and bisexuals

“…Similar to the findings of Li et al 15 and Emory et al 11 , our findings support that there is increased current use of ENDS among bisexual women compared to heterosexual or lesbian women when controlling for demographic variables. While Li et al 15 focused on participants aged 18-25 years, the age of our participants was similar to those of Emory et al 11 in that we recruited participants up to 64 years old. In contrast, Hoffman et al 16 found no difference in 'current' ENDS use and an increase in 'ever' ENDS use among bisexual women.…”

“…various combinations for dual use or poly-use, frequency and intensity of use, type and contents) to more fully understand harm potential. The findings in this study regarding men were similar to those of both Li et al 15 and Emory et al 11 in that there was no difference in current ENDS use when comparing gay or bisexual men to their heterosexual counterparts. In contrast, Hoffman et al 16 found a difference when comparing male bisexual ever ENDS use and current ENDS use to their heterosexual counterparts 16 .…”

“…Despite rapid proliferation of ENDS use, few studies have examined use of such devices by LGB individuals and, when investigations have occurred, the findings are less consistent than findings for cigarette smoking 10,11,15,16 . Current ENDS use has been found to be higher in bisexual women 11,15 compared to heterosexual women, and in bisexual men 16 compared to heterosexual men. No differences have been observed when comparing lesbian women and gay men to their heterosexual counterparts.…”

“…Compared to heterosexual women, current cigarette use (past 30 days) has been found to be consistently higher among lesbian and bisexual women [11][12][13][14][15][16] . A similar finding for current cigarette use was noted when comparing gay and heterosexual men [11][12][13][14][15][16] , but elevated use among bisexual men has not been a consistent finding [12][13][14][15] .…”

Determining correlates of the average number of cigarette smoking among college students using count regression models

“…There is a lot of evidence that tobacco use is higher among individuals identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual (especially among women). Li et al studied sex and sexual orientation in relation to tobacco use among young adult college students in the US 47 . They found that the pattern of tobacco use was different between heterosexual, gay/lesbian, and bisexual students; especially, bisexual women used a higher mean number of tobacco products compared to heterosexuals or other sexual minority groups.…”