Differences in Alcohol Use and Alcohol-Related Health Care Among Transgender and Nontransgender Adults: Findings From the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Blosnich JR, Lehavot K, Glass JE, Williams EC. Differences in Alcohol Use and Alcohol-Related Health Care Among Transgender and Nontransgender Adults: Findings From the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs. 2017 Nov 1; 78(6):861-866.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• CDA 14-408 – Health Outcomes and Healthcare Use Among Transgender Veterans
• CDA 12-276 – Implementation Research for Evidence-based Care for Alcohol Dependence

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Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: Little is known regarding patterns of alcohol use and alcohol-related care among transgender adults. This study examined alcohol use and alcohol-related care across transgender status in a probability sample of U.S. adults. METHOD: We conducted secondary analyses of the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, focusing on adults in eight states that administered both an Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention module and a Gender Identity module (n = 58,381). Measurements included transgender status, sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol consumption (any alcohol use, risky drinking, heavy episodic drinking, and any unhealthy alcohol use), and alcohol-related care (alcohol screening during healthcare visits and advice about unhealthy alcohol use). We tested the association between transgender status and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related care using multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Approximately 0.6% of respondents (n = 283) self-identified as transgender. Overall, there were no significant differences in alcohol consumption or screening between transgender and nontransgender adults. A greater proportion of transgender than nontransgender adults reported being advised to reduce alcohol use (20.7% vs. 7.8%, p = .012). However, this difference was not significant after adjusting for other sociodemographic characteristics (adjusted odds ratio = 2.31, 95% CI [0.91, 5.86], p = .077). CONCLUSIONS: In this representative sample from eight U.S. states, we did not find differences related to transgender status in rates of alcohol use or of alcohol-related care.