Sexual orientation and symptoms of common mental disorder or low wellbeing: combined meta-analysis of 12 UK population health surveys

Table 1 Characteristics of study variables

Total n = 94,818	British Cohort Study	Health Survey for England			LSYPE	Scottish Health Survey						Understanding Society
Year sexual orientation identity recorded	2012	2011	2012	2013	2009/10	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2011/12
Study sample size	6,958	7,116	7,033	7,299	6,310	5,091	6,208	6,229	6,391	4,149	4,320	27,714
Refused identity item^a (%)	0.5	3.0	3.0	2.0	0.4	6.5	4.6	5.2	4.4	2.9	3.1	0.1
GHQ score ≥4 (%)	-	-	15.1	-	22.3	14.3	14.4	15.9	15.0	14.7	15.1	18.9
Anxious/depressed (%)	-	26.5	19.8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Low wellbeing score (%)	31.1	21.6	19.5	21.7	-	27.9	28.6	30.4	27.7	28.4	27.8	-
Age (range 16;103)	40;40	16;96	16;98	16;104	16;19	18;93	18;101	18;96	18;103	18;99	18;99	16;100
Male (%)	45.8	44.6	44.7	44.6	49.6	43.6	43.9	42.9	43.0	44.1	43.1	43.3
Lesbian/Gay	1.9	0.9	1.0	1.3	1.3	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.8	1.3
Bisexual	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	1.7	0.9	0.8	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.6	1.1
‘Other’	0.2	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.8	0.6	1.4	1.4	0.7	0.8	1.1
Ethnic minority^b	3.1	9.4	9.3	10.0	30.1	2.4	2.1	2.8	2.5	2.6	2.6	13.1
University degree	24.9	25.1	26.1	26.5	18.2	26.9	27.6	28.5	28.0	30.0	30.7	24.2
Smoker	23.3	19.9	18.8	19.2	20.8	39.4	36.0	36.4	36.1	38.8	38.3	55.1
Longstanding illness	14.8	42.4	41.2	41.3	6.6	43.0	42.0	47.7	47.1	34.3	33.4	34.1
Married/co-habiting	80.7	64.2	64.2	54.2	30.7	67.4	67.0	63.5	65.5	65.5	63.4	63.1

Note. ^aRefusal to answer sexual orientation identity item (excluded from the analytic sample).^bLSYPE and Understanding Society over-sample ethnic minority groups, explaining the high proportions seen here