LGBT adults are more likely to report having a disability

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-07-17 01:00

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LGBT adults are more likely to report having a disability compared to straight, cisgender adults, according to US research. The team used data from 130,000 adults participating in a US household survey to compare the number of participants who self-reported as gay, bisexual or gender diverse with those reporting a disability - based on a set of questions aimed at identifying people who have difficulty performing basic universal activities due to a health problem. About 16,000 survey participants identified as LGBT, and the researchers say this group was almost twice as likely to report a disability compared to non-LGBT adults. This study can't show why this is the case, but the researchers say it's possible chronic stigma and discrimination is having health impacts.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: RAND, USA

Funder: Dr Cantor reported receiving grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Aging and personal fees from The Aspen Institute, Chestnut Health, and the Government Accountability Office outside the submitted work. Dr Schuler reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

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