Lesbians and bisexual (LB) women have behavioural risk-factors at higher rates compared to heterosexuals such as increased alcohol intake and higher stress levels. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). The large national cancer registries and surveys do not collect data about sexual orientation, leaving lesbians embedded and invisible among this vast wealth of information. In addition, we propose that the explanatory power of these life course factors will be greater among women impacted by cancer at younger ages. In contrast, lesbian and heterosexual women diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages had similar educational levels.

to estimate the indirect effects of sexual identity on coping mediated by the life course variables. Thus, systematic differences in educational attainment may explain differences in coping between lesbian and heterosexual women. Others hypothesized that sexual minorities develop mastery of cognitive processes to deal with distress and are therefore better able to cope with a life-threatening illness like breast cancer. We propose that life course factors drive the observed differences in coping between sexual minority, particularly lesbian-identified women, and heterosexual women.Differences in coping outcomes may partially result from differences in age among the study samples.

Bryn Austin (2012) used the Rosner-Colditz model [ 24] and the other three studies used the Gail model [ 15, 23, 25]; one also used the Claus model [ 25]. Incidence risk models are statistical tools that can be used to estimate the probability of an individual of a specific age and set of risk factors developing a condition within a certain time period (such as five years or lifetime). Conversely, breast cancer rates are higher in more affluent women yet income levels in LB women are relatively low. This systematic review investigated all evidence on whether there is, or likely to be, higher rates of breast cancer in LB women. This finding may reflect the impact of cancer on educational attainment, where early-onset breast cancer prevents or delays college.Bisexual-identified women were removed for this analysis due to the small subsample size, leaving a final analytic sample of 925. Sample size – power depends on number of events so if a general population sample needs large numbers or long follow up or both. There is an assumption that if a certain risk factor is present, then acting on that risk factor, such as drinking less alcohol, will substantially alter the risk of breast cancer.