QUALITY OF LIFE OF YOUNG HOMOSEXUAL AND BISEXUAL RESIDENTS IN A CAPITAL OF NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Abstract

Quality of life encompasses a complex range of individual and unique factors; considering that we live in a society that marginalizes sexually diverse individuals, we need to understand the impact of sexual orientation on quality of life, allowing the construction of public policies for this audience. Objective: to evaluate the life quality index of young homosexual and bisexual people. Methodology: cross-sectional, observational, descriptive, and analytical study, with young people aged 20 to 24 years old, who relate sexually and/or affective relationships with individuals of the same gender; quality of life was measured using the WHOQOL-bref tool, in addition to the sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: 225 questionnaires were analyzed, of which 60.9% were female and 54.7% were bisexual, mean age 22 (± 1.4), high family income (59.6%) and high education (92,9%), with a predominance of white individuals (56.9%). The average global quality of life was 74,32 (± 13,46), with impairment in the psychological domain (67.14 ± 15.12). Lack of statistical significance when comparing domains with sexual orientation, gender and age. Presence of higher rates on issues related to mobility, acess to information, and housing, while negative thoughts, security and sleep had lower value. Conclusion: the participants in this work are female, bisexual, high schooling, high family income and mean age of 22 years; have the lowest quality of life escores in the psychological domain, with the variable negative thinking, safety and sleep as the most affected. There is no statistically significant difference between domains regarding sexual orientation, gender and age.