Center for Population Research in L G B T Health

improving health for sexual and gender minorities

Welcome!

Over the past three decades, a growing cadre of scientists has painstakingly built the knowledge base around LGBT health concerns. It is now widely acknowledged that sexual and gender minority groups experience health disparities as a result of multiple socio-cultural factors. Studies have shown that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations have higher prevalence of life-threatening physical and mental health conditions, experience barriers to health care access, and face substantial threats to quality of life.

The Center for Population Research in LGBT Health supports and stimulates research to fill critical knowledge gaps related to the health of sexual and gender minorities, strengthening the foundation for culturally competent treatment and behavior change models. Our scientific vision is to create an infrastructure that will support the collaborative work of LGBT health researchers and integrate intellectual and methodological expertise in the interdisciplinary fields of LGBT health and population research. We aim for a synergistic increase in productivity as a result. The Center supports the work of collaborating scientists and partner organizations by creating opportunities to meet and plan further research, formalizing a mentorship process for junior scientists, making datasets available for further studies, and creating a platform for ongoing communication and shared projects among the group.

Featured Findings

HIV+ Transgender Women Less Likely to Receive Anti-Retroviral Therapy

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A study comparing 59 HIV-positive male-to-female (MTF) transgender persons with a control group of 300 non-transgender HIV positive persons found that fewer in the MTF sample were receiving highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). Only 59% of the MTF sample reported current use of HAART compared with 82% of the control group. (more) Both groups had similar HIV-related health status (i.e., CD4 count, viral load, and AIDS-related symptoms). (Source: Melendez, RM, et al., 2006, "Health and Health Care among Male-to-Female Transgender Persons Who Are HIV Positive," American Journal of Public Health, Volume 96, pp.1034-1037.)

For Further Thought

  • What factors might explain the lower rate of use of anti-retroviral therapy among MTF transgender persons in this sample?

  • Given that a significantly smaller percentage of the MTF study group used HAART, what might explain the similarity in HIV-related health status in the study and control groups?

  • What other health disparities might this HIV-positive MTF transgender sample experience aside from decreased anti-retroviral therapy utilization?

 

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