Screening for sexual orientation in XXXX emergency departments.

@entity1 @entity146 @entity341 @entity74 @entity716
INTRODUCTION: Our goal was to explore whether @entity341 ( @entity341 ) @entity1 would disclose their sexual orientation in a research evaluation and to examine demographic and clinical characteristics of @entity1 by self-identified sexual orientation. METHODS: @entity1 (n=177) presented for @entity146 treatment at three urban EDs in New York City, Rochester, NY, and Philadelphia, PA. @entity1 were interviewed in the context of a larger study of a standardized suicide risk assessment. We assessed @entity1 ' willingness to answer questions regarding sexual orientation along three dimensions: a self-description of sexual orientation, a self-description of sexual attraction, and the gender of any prior sexual partners. RESULTS: No @entity1 (0/177) refused to respond to the categorical question about sexual orientation, 168/177 (94.9%) agreed to provide information about prior sexual partners, and 100/109 (91.7%) provided information about current sexual attraction toward either gender. Of all 177 @entity1 , 154 (87.0%) self-identified as heterosexual, 11 (6.2%) as bisexual, 10 (5.6%) as gay or lesbian, and 2 (1.1%) indicated they were not sure. As compared with heterosexual @entity1 , lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) @entity1 were significantly younger and more likely to be non-white, but did not differ significantly in terms of education, income, employment, or religious affiliation or participation. Further, LGB @entity1 did not differ from self-identified heterosexual @entity1 for lifetime suicide attempt rate or lifetime history of any mood, substance-related, @entity716 spectrum, or other Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of @entity146 , 4th edition (DSM-IV) @entity74 . Of self-identified heterosexual @entity1 5.6% (5/89) reported sexual attraction as other than 'only opposite sex,' and 10.3% (15/142) of sexually active 'heterosexual' @entity1 reported previous same-gender sexual partners. CONCLUSION: Assessing @entity1 ' sexual orientation in the @entity341 by a three-question approach appeared feasible in the @entity341 and acceptable to @entity341 @entity1 . However, since many @entity1 have sexual experiences not suggested by simple labels, self-report of sexual identity alone may not inform clinicians of health risks inherent in same or opposite gender sexual contact.
