Smoking Among Sexual Minorities: Are There Racial Differences?

Smoking prevalence is higher among sexual minorities compared to their heterosexual peers. However, very little is known about potential racial differences in smoking among sexual minority populations. We examined differences by race in smoking status among a robust sample of sexual minorities.

We used data from the 2010 Social Justice Sexuality project, a large national convenience sample of sexual minority adults that oversampled individuals from racial minority groups. Log-Poisson multivariable regression models were employed to determine the risk of current smoking among sexual minority individuals by race after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics.

Among smokers, 22.35% identified as White, 26.98% identified as Black, 19.38% identified as Latino/Hispanic, 5.58% identified as Asian American, and 25.67% were other/multiracial. In fully adjusted gender stratified models, Black men (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] = 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.50, 0.75) and Asian American men (aRR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.50, 0.75) were at lower risk of smoking compared to White men. Black women were the only to remain statistically significant for decreased risk of smoking in fully adjusted gender stratified models (aRR = 0.78, 95 % CI = 0.65, 0.95).

Among sexual minorities, Black and Asian American individuals consistently were at decreased risk of current smoking compared to their White peers. Future research should seek to understand the mechanisms that contribute to decreased smoking status among racial sexual minorities.