Are LGBTQ+ adults more likely to have asthma?

Findings from five longitudinal studies, including BCS70, show that sexual minority adults were more likely to have asthma. This difference increases with age compared to heterosexual people. 

What we asked you 

When you were 46, we asked if you had asthma. 

The researchers also looked at asthma diagnoses of study members from four other longitudinal studies: 

• Millennium Cohort Study (born in 2000-02)
• Next Steps (born in 1989-90)
• Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (looking at multi-generational households)
• English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (aged 50 and above) 

The researchers combined your information with the details of members from other studies. This was so they could study a larger group of people and make their findings more accurate. They only included studies that asked about sexual identity and whether people had asthma. 

What the researchers found

When you were 46 years old, we asked you about your sexual identity and whether you had asthma. We learned that nearly 3% of you are part of the LGBTQ+ community and 11% of you have asthma. 

UCL researchers looked at all the studies together and found that sexual minority adults were 43% more likely to have asthma than straight people.  

Bisexual people were 75% more likely to report having asthma compared to heterosexual men and women. Among LGBTQ+ women, the likelihood was 51% higher compared to straight women, while LGBTQ+ men were 29% more likely to report having asthma compared to heterosexual men. 

In the youngest group, from the Millennium Cohort Study, the researchers found no difference in asthma risk by sexuality. This didn’t change over time. The researchers suggested that inequalities in asthma risk by sexuality appear after childhood. 

Smoking risk 

Previous research has found that sexual minority adults were more likely to smoke than heterosexual adults. But this research found that smoking had a limited role in explaining the higher rates of asthma in the LGBTQ+ community. 

The researchers said future studies should look at other possible causes. These include obesity, air pollution, and unfair access to healthcare.  

Why this research matters 

Lead author, Dr. Evangeline Tabor (UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies) said:

“We have seen similar studies in an international context, but this is the first study that looked specifically at the relationship between asthma and the LGBTQ+ population across the UK as a whole. Respiratory diseases can impact quality of life and can be life-threatening so it’s important to be aware the LGBTQ+ population faces health inequalities not only in the context of sexual or mental health. 

More awareness in the policy and medical community about these patterns in LGBTQ+ populations can allow us to address these inequalities.” 

Read the full research report 

‘Sexuality and respiratory outcomes in the UK: disparities, development and mediators in multiple longitudinal studies,’ by Evangeline Tabor, Dylan Kneale and Praveetha Patalay is available on the Public Health journal website.