Comparison of Lesbian and Bisexual Women to Heterosexual Women's Screening Prevalence for Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer in Missouri

Sexual minority women may be at higher risk of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer compared to heterosexual women. In addition, sexual minority women may use preventive cancer-related screening services less than heterosexual women. Using a population-based probability sample of Missouri women, we compared cancer screening behavior of heterosexual (n = 29,847), self-identified lesbian (n = 114), and bisexual (n = 162) women. Sexual minority women were significantly younger by approximately 10 years and comprised less than 1% of the sample. In this sample, sexual minority and heterosexual women did not differ in the proportion having ever obtained breast, cervical or colorectal cancer screenings.