Academic Journal
Main Category: Men's health
Also Included In: Mental Health; Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 18 Dec 2011 - 12:00 PST
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Men in same-sex marriages enjoy better health, have fewer doctor visits and lower health care costs compared to other gay or bisexual men, researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health wrote in the American Journal of Public Health. They added that when states offer legal protections for same-sex marriages, as is the case in Massachusetts, gay men generally have lower overall levels of stress. The article is titled "Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Laws on Health Care Use and Expenditures in Sexual Minority Men: A Quasi-Natural Experiment."
Lead author, Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, PhD, said:
"Our results suggest that removing barriers to marriage improves the health ofDuring a twelve-month period after the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2003, the following changes were noted among gay and bisexual males: 13% fewer medical care visitsA significant drop in the number of mental healthcare visits14% lower health care costsHIV-related visits remained about the same among males who were HIV positiveHatzenbuehler and team gathered data on 1,211 patients from a community-based health clinic in Massachusetts that specialized in sexual minorities. After the state approved the same-sex marriage law, they examined the clinic's billing records and found that the following conditions, all stress-related, became considerably less frequent - high blood pressure (hypertension), depression and adjustment disorders.
gay and bisexual men."
Dr. Hatzenbuehler said:
"These findings suggest that marriage equality may produce broad public health benefits by reducing the occurrence of stress-related health conditions in gay and bisexual men."
The authors explained that prior studies had indicated that not allowing same sex marriages resulted in more stress for gay and bisexual people. They added that this new study is the first to determine what impact same-sex marriage policies might have on healthcare usage and expenditure among gay and bisexual males.
As there were not enough lesbians visiting the clinic, they could not include this group of people in their study.
Dr. Hatzenbuehler said:
"This research makes important contributions to a growing body of evidence on the social, economic, and health benefits of marriage equality."
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, PhD, Conall O'Cleirigh, PhD, Chris Grasso, MPH, Kenneth Mayer, MD, Steven Safren, PhD, and Judith Bradford, PhD
American Journal of Public Health. e-View Ahead of Print. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300382 Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
MLA
19 Dec. 2011.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
posted by Josh on 18 Dec 2011 at 3:51 pm
I support homosexual marriage, but to make claims to progress that right based on these supposed health benefits is a little ridiculous in my opinion. It seems to me all to probably that this is simply a spurious relationship that might have other underlying factors effecting the reality of the situation.
If there are actual stress-related health benefits as consequence gay men being allowed to marry each other, I feel they are minimal, the importance of which is over-exaggerated by this article.
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