EP354/#1147 Cancer Screening in Bisexual Women in the United States: is There a Disparity? – A US BRFSS Study

Objectives To compare the rate of cancer screening for breast and cervical cancer in bisexual and lesbian/gay women versus heterosexual women in the United States. Methods Data on self-reported sexual orientation and cancer screening were obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2014–2017. Chi square tests were employed for statistical analysis. Results Of 204,535 female participants, with respects to self-reported sexual orientation, 94.04% (N=192,349) were heterosexual, 0.98% (N=2005) were lesbian/gay, and 1.68% (N=3442) were bisexual. 93.96% of self-reported straight women endorsed ever having a pap smear for cervical cancer screening, compared to only 88.78% of lesbian/gay women (p<0.001) and only 84.4% of bisexuals (p<0.001). Of 168,773 female participants over the age of 40 who reported having a mammogram within the past two years, 94.76% (N=159,928) self-reported heterosexual, 0.86% (N=1456) self-reported lesbian/gay, and 0.93% (N=1580) self-reported bisexual. 72.79% of self-reported heterosexual women over the age of 40 endorsed having had a mammogram in the past two years, compared to 72.73% of lesbian/gay women (p=0.37) and only 66.33% of bisexuals (p<0.001). Conclusions In the United States, bisexuals are significantly less likely to undergo cervical and breast cancer screening when compared to heterosexual women. Compared to lesbian/gay women are also less likely to undergo cervical cancer screening. Further studies are warranted to better understand the obstacles in cancer screening in non-heterosexual women.