Using UK Biobank for sexual minority health research

Lay abstract Although lesbian, gay and bisexual adults experience poorer health and healthcare outcomes, data for researchers to use to understand and address these disparities remain limited. UK Biobank is a research study which recruited, and is now following up, over half a million adults aged between 40 and 70. When participants were recruited they were not asked about sexual identity but they were asked about their history of sex with both women and men. In this research, we compared the responses to this question in UK Biobank to responses from another survey, the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, and found the estimates were broadly comparable. We also provide some advice to researchers on how to use UK Biobank in future research to explore disparities in health outcomes experienced by lesbian, gay and bisexual adults. Aim: Despite poorer health and healthcare outcomes experienced by lesbian, gay and bisexual adults, data for research to characterize and address these disparities remain limited. Patients & methods: We describe sexual history information from 502,543 UK Biobank participants recruited between 2006 and 2010, as sexual identity was not collected from the cohort at baseline, and compare this with sexual history and sexual identity responses to the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL-3), collected between 2010 and 2012. Results: After exclusions, 700 (0.3%) women and 2112 (1.2%) men in UK Biobank reported a history of exclusively same-sex sex and 5162 (2.3%) women and 4275 (2.3%) men reported a history of sex with both women and men; estimates were consistent with, although slightly lower those from NATSAL-3. Conclusion: UK Biobank is an important resource for sexual minority health research.