Gay and bisexual black men have lowest rate of prostate testing, research finds
A new study published in the December issue of Medical Care claims that African-American gay and bisexual men are the least likely to be tested for prostate cancer than any other men.
The study, by assistant professor Kevin C. Heslin of Charles Drew University, Los Angeles, explored rates of prostate cancer in relation to sexual orientation and ethnicity.
Interviews with 19,410 men, all aged over 50 years, showed that the proportion of black gay or bisexual men who had been tested was 12-14%.
This figure is significantly lower than the proportion of straight black men, and 15-28% lower than gay or bisexual white men.
Overall, there was no difference in rates of testing when comparing gay, bisexual and heterosexual men.
This lead Professor Helsin to conclude that men who are both black and gay or bisexual are significantly barred from prostate cancer testing.
This means that black gay or bisexual men are statistically more likely to be diagnosed late with prostate cancer, meaning that their chances of successful treatment are lower and that they are more likely to die of the disease than any other group.
Professor Helsin told Medlexicon.com:
“Gay and bisexual black men had the lowest use of the PSA test, compared with every other group of men in the study.
“For blacks, being a member of both racial and sexual minority groups represents a kind of double jeopardy when it comes to getting PSA testing.”
In 2008, 28,660 men died of prostate cancer in the United States, and 186,320 new cases were diagnosed.
