BMC Public Health 2006, 6:127 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/127 Table 4: Distribution of health and health behaviours for women Heterosexual classified N = 934 Bisexual classified N = 85 Lesbian classified N = 26 Chi2, p value Variable SmokingM = 10 GHQ high scorer CAGE high scorer SF12 physical scale score less than 25th centileM = 20 More than 1 sexual partner in previous monthM = 4 28 (3) Any sexual function problemM = 2 Childhood sexual experiences score 3 or moreM = 15 112 (12) Dissatisfied with sex lifeM = 10 Consultations over 75th centileM = 287 M = Number of non responders N = column per cent 294 (32) 233 (25) 371 (40) 164 (18) 567 (61) 462 (50) 186 (27) indicating possible alcohol misuse, to have had more than one sexual partner in the last four weeks (OR 2.85) and to report sexual experiences in childhood (OR 3.27) (table 4). Sexual experiences in childhood and current pyshcolgical distress Sexual experiences in childhood and high GHQ-12 scores appeared to occur together in gay and bisexual classified men (table 3) and so we explored their association fur- ther. To do this we compared heterosexual classified par- ticipants with gay and bisexual classified participants combined. This revealed associations only for gay and bisexual men and heterosexual women. Thirty-six per cent (18/50) of heterosexual classified men who reported childhood sexual experiences had GHQ-12 scores over 2 compared to 34% (107/315) of such men who did not report childhood experiences. Similarly, 48% (15/31) of lesbian and bisexual classified women who reported childhood experiences had GHQ-12 scores over 2 com- pared to 44% (35/79) of such women who did not report childhood experiences. In contrast, 65% (15/23) of gay and bisexual classified men who reported childhood sex- ual experiences had high GHQ-12 scores compared to 45% (n = 9/20) who did not report childhood experiences (Chi2 = 6.16, P = 0.013). And similarly, 51% (57/112) of heterosexual classified women who reported childhood sexual experiences had high GHQ-12 scores compared to 38% (306/808) who did not report such experiences (Chi2 = 6.98, P = 0.008). 48 (57) 23 (28) 40 (47) 35 (41) 8 (9) 51 (60) 27 (32) 46 (55) 13 (22) 15 (58) 6 (25) 11 (42) 8 (31) 1 (4) 14 (54) 4 (15) 16 (62) 5 (25) 28.27 P = 0.00 0.29 P = 0.86 1.78 P = 0.41 29.37 P = 0.00 9.32 P = 0.01 0.53 P = 0.77 25.72 P = 0.00 1.98 P = 0.37 0.83 P = 0.66 Discussion Main findings In comparison to their heterosexuals counterparts: 1) women classified as lesbian were more likely to be smok- ers; 2) men classified as gay had higher levels of psycho- logical symptoms and were more likely to report childhood sexual experiences; 3) women classified as bisexual were more likely to misuse alcohol, to be smok- ers, to report more than one sexual partner in the preced- ing four weeks and to report childhood sexual experiences; 4) men classified as bisexual were more likely to report more than one sexual partner in the preceding four weeks and to be dissatisfied with their sex lives. Reporting childhood sexual experiences was associated with adult psychological distress in gay and bisexual clas- sified men and heterosexual classified women. Strengths and limitations of the study To our knowledge this is the first European study in which the mental and physical health of people of a range of sex- ual orientation, attending family practitioners has been compared. Consecutive recruitment meant that our sam- ples of gay and bisexual people were comparatively small and led to relative uncertainty in our estimates of odds ratios. In keeping with the higher rate of attendance of women compared with men in UK general practice [32], in this study we recruited just over twice the numbers of women rather than men. We did not find any differences in the consultation rates of attendees classified as gay, les- bian, bisexual or heterosexual. Nevertheless, it is still pos- sible that differences in help seeking behaviour between Page 6 of 12 (page number not for citation purposes)