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Cardiology in focus
Preventing cardiovascular disease among sexual and gender minority persons
  1. Carl Streed Jr1,2,
  2. Billy Caceres3,
  3. Monica Mukherjee4
  1. 1 Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  2. 2 Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  3. 3 Program for the Study of LGBT Health, Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, New York, USA
  4. 4 Division of Cardiology, Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Carl Streed Jr, Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; carl.streed{at}bmc.org

https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2021-319069

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    With growing awareness of the unique health risks and disparate outcomes among sexual and gender minority (SGM), for example, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recently released a report highlighting these health disparities. Among the conditions discussed, the NASEM stressed the importance of assessing and addressing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk behaviours leading to adverse outcomes across the lifespan and specifically called attention to the need for preventive health interventions.1

    Summary of cardiovascular health concerns in SGM populations

    The American Heart Association (AHA) recently published ‘Assessing and Addressing Cardiovascular Health in LGBTQ Adults’, a comprehensive overview of the existing evidence regarding SGM adults and their increased CVD risk compared with heterosexual and cisgender peers.2 Although SGM populations are often grouped together, subgroups within these populations have distinct health risks and exposures. For example, analyses of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data have documented a higher prevalence of self-reported tobacco use3 and CVD diagnoses4 in gender minority (ie, transgender and gender diverse populations) adults relative to cisgender persons. Central to understanding …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @cjstreed, @mmukherjeemd

    • Contributors The authors contributed equally to the manuscript concept, draft and revisions.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.