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Evaluation Of Sexual Orientation Items In Population Health Surveys Among Canadians: A Mixed Methods Approach, Christoffer Dharma

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A single item sexual orientation question has been asked in Statistics Canada health surveys to identify health inequalities in Canada. Using a mixed methods study with convenience sample of Canadians, we evaluated this question in comparison to a set of US questions that includes domains of sexual identity, behaviour and attraction. The single item question had an 85.8% sensitivity and 100% specificity in capturing sexual minorities from the broadest definition (n = 311). Chance-corrected agreements with sexual identity, 12 months and life time sexual behaviour were 0.89, 0.39 and 0.48 respectively. Both trans and cisgender people revealed that there were …