Association between discrimination and poor sleep health outcomes among 2192 South Korean gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults: A nationwide cross-sectional survey

Objective: The study aimed to assess the prevalence of poor sleep health outcomes and examine the associations between experiences of discrimination and the sleep health outcomes among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults in Korea. Design & setting: The study used data from Rainbow Connection Project I, a nationwide cross-sectional survey of Korean LGB adults, conducted via online in 2016. Measurements: Participants were asked about experiences of anti-LGB discrimination and discrimination based on other characteristics (ie, gender, age, place of origin, nationality/race, religion, appearance including height and weight, disability status, and other) in the past 12 months. Using the responses, the participants were categorized into 4 groups: those who experienced (1) none, (2) only anti-LGB discrimination, (3) only other types of discrimination, and (4) both anti-LGB and other types of discrimination. Past-week sleep quality, unrestful sleep, and long sleep latency were included as sleep health outcomes. Results: Of the 2192 participants, 740 (33.8%) had poor sleep quality, 1211 (55.2%) had unrestful sleep, and 681 (31.1%) had long sleep latency in the past week. Participants who experienced both anti-LGB and other types of discrimination had 1.65 times (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.38-1.98), 1.30 times (95% CI = 1.16-1.45), and 1.58 times (95% CI = 1.31-1.90) higher prevalence of poor sleep quality, unrestful sleep, and long sleep latency, respectively, compared to those without any experiences of discrimination. Conclusions: Experiencing discrimination may deprive Korean LGB adults of good quality sleep. Interventions that seek to prevent discrimination are needed to promote sleep health among Korean LGB individuals.