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LGBTQIA+ Health Research & Practice

Recommended research and community resources to support education, research and clinical practice focusing on LGBT populations and patients

Phrasing an LGBTQI Research Question

Why is this important?

Social and cultural norms and discussion surrounding LGBT people has been changing rapidly in the United States and around the world, leading to rapid changes in acceptable and/or widely used vocabulary. Library and research terminology changes more slowly, and older research articles often use language now considered outdated, unacceptable, or overly clinical for use in conversation or writing. 

Familiarizing yourself with current LGBTQIA+ terms will help you find current research and will prepare you for assisting patients in this community in the future. 

Medical & Social Terminology

These sources list current social vocabulary relating to LGBTQIA+ issues. Keyword and natural language searching will find many of these terms in relevant articles and news stories, both in PubMed and in other databases.

PubMed & MeSH Terminology

PubMed and other medical research databases index their articles using the National Library of Medicine's MeSH subject headings. Many older or even some current MeSH terms for LGBT concepts are no longer acceptable socially or are rarely used. Many commonly used terms are not reflected in MeSH at all.

Due to this issue, it is critical that you consult the MeSH database to find all terms to search PubMed effectively. You may also search for common terms using a keyword search, but many useful articles will not include them. To be most effective, you will need to search using both MeSH and common terminology.

MeSH Terms and Examples

Note: Entry Terms are used as synonyms in MeSH and indexed together.

Common Terms MeSH Terms MeSH Subheadings MeSH Examples
  • LGBTQ
  • LGBT
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Queer

Sexual and Gender Minorities

  • Entry Terms
    • Non-Heterosexuals
    • Non Heterosexuals
    • Non-Heterosexual
    • Sexual Dissidents
    • Dissident, Sexual
    • Dissidents, Sexual
    • Sexual Dissident
    • GLBT Persons
    • GLBT Person
    • Person, GLBT
    • Persons, GLBT
    • GLBTQ Persons
    • GLBTQ Person
    • Person, GLBTQ
    • Persons, GLBTQ
    • LGBT Persons
    • LGBT Person
    • Person, LGBT
    • Persons, LGBT
    • LGBTQ Persons
    • LGBTQ Person
    • Person, LGBTQ
    • Persons, LGBTQ
    • Lesbigay Persons
    • Lesbigay Person
    • Person, Lesbigay
    • Persons, Lesbigay
    • Non-Heterosexual Persons
    • Non Heterosexual Persons
    • Non-Heterosexual Person
    • Person, Non-Heterosexual
    • Sexual Minorities
    • Minorities, Sexual
    • Minority, Sexual
    • Sexual Minority
    • LBG Persons
    • LBG Person
    • Person, LBG
    • Persons, LBG
    • Gays
    • Gay
    • Men Who Have Sex With Men
    • Gender Minorities
    • Gender Minority
    • Minorities, Gender
    • Minority, Gender
    • Lesbians
    • Lesbian
    • Women Who Have Sex With Women
    • Bisexuals
    • Bisexual
    • Homosexuals
    • Homosexual
    • Queers
    • Queer
  • classification
  • education
  • history
  • legislation and jurisprudence
  • organization and administration
  • psychology
  • statistics and numerical data
"Sexual and Gender Minorities/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
  • Homosexuality
  • Gayness
  • Queerness

Homosexuality

  • analysis
  • blood
  • chemically induced
  • classification
  • complications
  • diagnosis
  • drug effects
  • drug therapy
  • epidemiology
  • ethics
  • ethnology
  • etiology
  • genetics
  • history
  • immunology
  • legislation and jurisprudence
  • metabolism
  • microbiology
  • organization and administration
  • physiology
  • physiopathology
"Homosexuality/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
  • Lesbian
  • Queer female/woman
  • Gay female

Homosexuality, Female

  • Entry Terms:
    • Female Homosexuality
    • Lesbianism
  • epidemiology
  • ethnology
  • etiology
  • genetics
  • history
  • physiology
  • psychology
  • statistics and numerical data
"Homosexuality, Female/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
  • Gay male
  • Queer male/man

Homosexuality, Male

  • Entry Terms:
    • Male Homosexuality
  • epidemiology
  • ethnology
  • etiology
  • genetics
  • history
  • physiology
  • psychology
  • statistics and numerical data
"Homosexuality, Male/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
  • Bisexual
  • Bisexuality
  • Bi

Bisexuality

  • classification
  • drug effects
  • epidemiology
  • ethics
  • ethnology
  • history
  • physiology
  • psychology
  • statistics and numerical data
"bisexuality/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
  • Transgender
  • Transperson
  • Transman
  • Transwoman
  • Trans

Sexual and Gender Minorities

  • Transgender Persons
  • Entry Terms:
    • Person, Transgender
    • Persons, Transgender
    • Transgender Person
    • Transgenders
    • Transgender
    • Transgendered Persons
    • Person, Transgendered
    • Persons, Transgendered
    • Transgendered Person
    • Two-Spirit Persons
    • Person, Two-Spirit
    • Persons, Two-Spirit
    • Two Spirit Persons
    • Two-Spirit Person
    • Transsexual Persons
    • Person, Transsexual
    • Persons, Transsexual
    • Transsexual Person
    • Transexuals
    • Transexual
  • classification
  • education
  • history
  • legislation and jurisprudence
  • organization and administration
  • psychology
  • statistics and numerical data
"Transgender Persons/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]

Intersex Persons

Sexual and Gender Minorities

  • Intersex Persons
  • Entry Terms
    • Intersex Person
    • Person, Intersex
    • Persons, Intersex
  • education
  • psychology
  • statistics and numerical data
"Intersex Persons/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]

Gender 

Gender Identity

 

  • drug effects
  • history
  • physiology
  • psychology
  • surgery
  • therapy
"Gender Identity"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]