Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27009565›Full record

SynthesisBMC psychiatry2016

Sexual orientation and symptoms of common mental disorder or low wellbeing: combined meta-analysis of 12 UK population health surveys.

Joanna Semlyen, Michael King, Justin Varney, Gareth Hagger-Johnson

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 135 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
135citing papers in PubMed, 17 pooled it
32.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

135 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 372 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. A Systematic Review of Sexual Minority Women's Experiences of Health Care in the UK.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019
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  15. Sexual orientation disclosure in health care: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018
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75 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Joanna SemlyenDepartment of Psychology, London Metropolitan University, London, UK.
Michael KingDivision of Psychiatry, UCL, London, UK.
Justin VarneyPublic Health England, London, UK.
Gareth Hagger-JohnsonAdministrative Data Research Centre for England (ADRC-E), Farr Institute, UCL, London, NW1 2DA, UK. G.Hagger-Johnson@ucl.ac.uk.
University College London · GBLondon Metropolitan University · GBPublic Health England · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrevious studies have indicated increased risk of mental disorder symptoms, suicide and substance misuse in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults, compared to heterosexual adults. Our aims were to determine an estimate of the association between sexual orientation identity and poor mental health and wellbeing among adults from 12 population surveys in the UK, and to consider whether effects differed for specific subgroups of the population.

methodsIndividual data were pooled from the British Cohort Study 2012, Health Survey for England 2011, 2012 and 2013, Scottish Health Survey 2008 to 2013, Longitudinal Study of Young People in England 2009/10 and Understanding Society 2011/12. Individual participant meta-analysis was used to pool estimates from each study, allowing for between-study variation.

resultsOf 94,818 participants, 1.1 % identified as lesbian/gay, 0.9 % as bisexual, 0.8 % as 'other' and 97.2 % as heterosexual. Adjusting for a range of covariates, adults who identified as lesbian/gay had higher prevalence of common mental disorder when compared to heterosexuals, but the association was different in different age groups: apparent for those under 35 (OR = 1.78, 95 % CI 1.40, 2.26), weaker at age 35-54.9 (OR = 1.42, 95 % CI 1.10, 1.84), but strongest at age 55+ (OR = 2.06, 95 % CI 1.29, 3.31). These effects were stronger for bisexual adults, similar for those identifying as 'other', and similar for 'low wellbeing'.

conclusionsIn the UK, LGB adults have higher prevalence of poor mental health and low wellbeing when compared to heterosexuals, particularly younger and older LGB adults. Sexual orientation identity should be measured routinely in all health studies and in administrative data in the UK in order to influence national and local policy development and service delivery. These results reiterate the need for local government, NHS providers and public health policy makers to consider how to address inequalities in mental health among these minority groups.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedFemaleHealth SurveysHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMental DisordersMiddle AgedPrevalenceSexual BehaviorSexualityUnited KingdomYoung AdultAnxiety disordersDepressionHealth surveysHomosexualityMental disordersMeta-analysisMood disordersNeurotic disordersSexualitySexual orientation

Identifiers

PMID27009565
PMCPMC4806482
OpenAlexW2306242687

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.