SURVEY TITLE: California Health Interview Survey
ACRONYM: CHIS
SPONSOR: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, California Department of Health Services, and The Public Health Institute
SURVEY PURPOSE: The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is an important source of information on health and access to health care services for Californians.
LOCATION SAMPLED: Designed to be a representative sample of California.
YEARS SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTED: 2001, 2003.
SAMPLE SIZE: 2001: 55,428 Households; 2003: 42,000 Households.
METHOD OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTION: Telephone.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONS:
2001 (see 2001 Questionnaire):
AH45 This next question is about your sexual orientation and I want to remind you again that your answers are completely confidential. Are you gay, (lesbian), or bisexual?
AH45A Is that (gay/lesbian) or bisexual?
2003 (see 2003 Questionnaire):
QA03_92. (Is that partner male or female) In the past 12 months, have your sexual partners been male, female, or both male and female?
QA03_93. Do you think of yourself as straight or heterosexual, as gay (lesbian) or homosexual, or bisexual (IF NEEDED SAY: "Straight or Heterosexual people have sex with, or are primarily attracted to people of the opposite sex, Gay (and Lesbian) people have sex with or are primarily attracted to people of the same sex, and Bisexuals have sex with or are attracted to people of both sexes.")
RESULTS:
DATA ACCESS: www.chis.ucla.edu/
ACRONYM: CHIS
SPONSOR: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, California Department of Health Services, and The Public Health Institute
SURVEY PURPOSE: The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is an important source of information on health and access to health care services for Californians.
LOCATION SAMPLED: Designed to be a representative sample of California.
YEARS SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTED: 2001, 2003.
SAMPLE SIZE: 2001: 55,428 Households; 2003: 42,000 Households.
METHOD OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTION: Telephone.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONS:
2001 (see 2001 Questionnaire):
AH45 This next question is about your sexual orientation and I want to remind you again that your answers are completely confidential. Are you gay, (lesbian), or bisexual?
AH45A Is that (gay/lesbian) or bisexual?
2003 (see 2003 Questionnaire):
QA03_92. (Is that partner male or female) In the past 12 months, have your sexual partners been male, female, or both male and female?
QA03_93. Do you think of yourself as straight or heterosexual, as gay (lesbian) or homosexual, or bisexual (IF NEEDED SAY: "Straight or Heterosexual people have sex with, or are primarily attracted to people of the opposite sex, Gay (and Lesbian) people have sex with or are primarily attracted to people of the same sex, and Bisexuals have sex with or are attracted to people of both sexes.")
RESULTS:
- Tang H, Greenwood GL, Cowling DW, Lloyd JC, Roeseler AG, Bal DG. Cigarette smoking among lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: how serious a problem? Cancer Causes Control. 2004 Oct;15(8):797-803. INTRODUCTION: Population-based health surveys seldom assess sexual orientation, which results in the absence of a reliable measure of smoking among lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGB), a population perceived to have higher risks of tobacco-related diseases. This is the first study to compare the cigarette smoking rate of LGB with that of heterosexual individuals using a population-based sample with both male and female adults, and to identify which sub segments of LGB population are particularly burdened by tobacco use. METHODS: California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a population-based telephone survey was used to assess smoking prevalence and its correlates among respondents. Of 44,606 respondents, 343 self-identified as lesbian; 593 self-identified as gay; and 793 identified themselves as bisexual (511 female and 282 male). Statistical analysis was performed using SAS and SUDAAN. RESULTS: Lesbians' smoking rate (25.3%), was about 70% higher than that of heterosexual women (14.9%) Gay men had a smoking prevalence of 33.2%, comparing to heterosexual men (21.3%). After controlling for demographic variables, logistic regression analysis showed that lesbians and bisexual women were significantly more likely to smoke compared with heterosexual women (OR = 1.95 and OR = 2.08, respectively). Gay men were also significantly more likely to smoke than heterosexual men (OR = 2.13; 95% CI = 1.66-2.73). Being 35-44-years-old, non-Hispanic White, and having low-education attainment and low-household income were common demographic predictors of cigarette smoking among LGB. CONCLUSION: Our study provides the strongest evidence to date that lesbians, bisexual females, and gay men had significantly higher cigarette smoking prevalence rates than their heterosexual counterparts.
DATA ACCESS: www.chis.ucla.edu/