Asthma severity may be on the rise for people identifying as sexual and gender minorities (SGM). That was the focus of a new study presented at the 2023 American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study’s lead author, Tugba Kaplan, MD, an internal medicine resident at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland, said these patients were at higher risk than patients who identified as heterosexual. Additionally, the study suggested that the use of e-cigarettes alone or with tobacco cigarettes augmented these risks.
According to Dr. Kaplan, even when patients achieve symptom control, asthma exacerbation risk health disparity factors, such as socioeconomic challenges and poor adherence to medications and follow-up visits, can influence asthma severity assessment and proper further management.
During the session, Dr. Kaplan noted earlier research reporting that people who identify as SGM have experienced various health disparities and an increased risk to specific health concerns.
Dr. Kaplan directed clinicians to Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines when evaluating the severity of asthma in patients and future exacerbations, even when they’ve achieved both symptom control.
The six-question study methodology included 1,815 adults who identified as SGM and 12,879 who identified as heterosexual from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (PATH). Results showed the SGM group was more likely to refrain from daily activity and have shortness of breath compared with the heterosexual group.
Urgent care visits were up among SGM patients with dual use of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes compared with heterosexual patients with dual use. SGM patients with lifetime exclusive e-cigarette use woke up at night more often than heterosexual patients with lifetime exclusive e-cigarette use.
According to Dr. Kaplan, this is the first nationally representative study assessing asthma severity among SGM.
