Sociodemographic and lesbian-specific factors associated with physical activity among adult lesbians

Although participation in moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) results in health benefits, the majority of adult lesbians are not sufficiently active. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sociodemographic factors (age, education level, body mass index [BMI], race, partner status, employment status, annual household income, general health status, diagnosis of chronic conditions, children under 18 years living at home) and lesbian-specific factors (connection with the lesbian community, public identification as a lesbian) to participation in MVPA.

Participants included 847 self-identified lesbians 18 to 74 years old (M(age) = 40.5; SD = 11.6) who completed a 20-minute, web-based survey.

The binary logistic regression model that included the 10 demographic factors was significantly associated with MVPA, χ(2) (15, N = 847) = 105.62, p < .001. However, when the two lesbian-specific factors were added, the model did not improve significantly, χ(2) (2, N = 847) = 5.20, p = .07. BMI and general health status were significantly associated with MVPA (Wald χ(2) (2) = 19.5, p < .001) and (Wald χ(2) (4) = 41.2, p < .001). Obese participants had 54.5% lower odds than healthy weight participants to engage in sufficient amounts of MVPA. Participants who reported general health status as excellent compared with those who reported poor had 12.7 times greater odds of engaging in sufficient amounts of MVPA.

Future research should extend on this study by utilizing sampling methods that target the recruitment of lesbian women not actively involved in lesbian-related activities.