Sexual Minority-Specific Experiences of Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Objective: To examine how sexual minority-specific factors relate to colorectal cancer survivors' health-related quality of life, psychological adjustment, and quality of care. Method: One hundred twenty-seven sexual minority survivors diagnosed with stage I, II, or III colorectal cancer were recruited from four cancer registries. An average of 3 years after diagnosis, eligible survivors participated in a telephone survey, which measured survivors' outcomes, consisting of physical and mental quality of life, anxiety, depression, self-rated fair or poor health, and quality of care. We considered sexual minority-specific factors (e.g., outness, discrimination) as correlates for each survivorship outcome using forward selection with generalized linear or logistic regression models. Results: After adjusting for confounders, accumulation of lifetime discrimination experiences had negative associations with survivors' physical and mental quality of life, anxiety, and depression. Sexual minority-specific discrimination experiences were negatively associated with perceived quality of care after adjusting for confounders. Sexual minority survivors' self-rated fair or poor health and their rating of care as excellent were independent of sexual minority-specific factors. Conclusion: Addressing and counteracting sexual minority-specific and other lifetime discrimination experiences may be a pathway to improving sexual minority cancer survivors' quality of care, quality of life, and psychological adjustment.