Skip to main content
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health logoLink to Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
. 2003 Mar;57(3):207–209. doi: 10.1136/jech.57.3.207

Estimating the lesbian population: a capture-recapture approach

D Aaron 1, Y Chang 1, N Markovic 1, R LaPorte 1
PMCID: PMC1732397  PMID: 12594197

Abstract

Study objective: Little is known about the number of women who identify as lesbian. Estimates from the US range from 1% to nearly 10%. Accurate estimates are critical in order to meet lesbian's healthcare needs and to address health problems that may be more prevalent among them. This study used capture-recapture methods to estimate the lesbian population of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Design: Mailing lists from four sources were used to identify lesbians. The capture-recapture method and log-linear modelling were used to estimate the number of lesbians in the defined geographical area, and the percentage of the female population they comprised there was determined through census data.

Setting: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA.

Results: A total of 2185 unique names were identified. The capture-recapture method estimated that the total lesbian population of Allegheny County was 7031 (95% CI 5850 to 8576). Therefore, based on the 1990 census figures, the county's adult lesbian population was estimated to be 1.87% (95% CI 1.56% to 2.28%) of the adult female population.

Conclusions: An estimate of the lesbian population is fundamental for addressing lesbian's health needs and for developing appropriate research programmes. Capture-recapture methods have the potential to provide accurate and reliable estimates of this population in any location.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (80.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aaron D. J., Markovic N., Danielson M. E., Honnold J. A., Janosky J. E., Schmidt N. J. Behavioral risk factors for disease and preventive health practices among lesbians. Am J Public Health. 2001 Jun;91(6):972–975. doi: 10.2105/ajph.91.6.972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Agresti A. Simple capture-recapture models permitting unequal catchability and variable sampling effort. Biometrics. 1994 Jun;50(2):494–500. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bloor M., Leyland A., Barnard M., McKeganey N. Estimating hidden populations: a new method of calculating the prevalence of drug-injecting and non-injecting female street prostitution. Br J Addict. 1991 Nov;86(11):1477–1483. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1991.tb01733.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chang Y. F., McMahon J. E., Hennon D. L., LaPorte R. E., Coben J. H. Dog bite incidence in the city of Pittsburgh: a capture-recapture approach. Am J Public Health. 1997 Oct;87(10):1703–1705. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.10.1703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chiu W. T., Dearwater S. R., McCarty D. J., Songer T. J., LaPorte R. E. Establishment of accurate incidence rates for head and spinal cord injuries in developing and developed countries: a capture-recapture approach. J Trauma. 1993 Aug;35(2):206–211. doi: 10.1097/00005373-199308000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cormack R. M. Interval estimation for mark-recapture studies of closed populations. Biometrics. 1992 Jun;48(2):567–576. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fisher N., Turner S. W., Pugh R., Taylor C. Estimating numbers of homeless and homeless mentally ill people in north east Westminster by using capture-recapture analysis. BMJ. 1994 Jan 1;308(6920):27–30. doi: 10.1136/bmj.308.6920.27. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hook E. B., Regal R. R. Capture-recapture methods in epidemiology: methods and limitations. Epidemiol Rev. 1995;17(2):243–264. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036192. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LaPorte R. E., Dearwater S. R., Chang Y. F., Songer T. J., Aaron D. J., Anderson R. L., Olsen T. Efficiency and accuracy of disease monitoring systems: application of capture-recapture methods to injury monitoring. Am J Epidemiol. 1995 Nov 15;142(10):1069–1077. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117560. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. LaPorte R. E., Tull E. S., McCarty D. Monitoring the incidence of myocardial infarctions: applications of capture-mark-recapture technology. Int J Epidemiol. 1992 Apr;21(2):258–262. doi: 10.1093/ije/21.2.258. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Palfrey J. S., Haynie M., Porter S., Fenton T., Cooperman-Vincent P., Shaw D., Johnson B., Bierle T., Walker D. K. Prevalence of medical technology assistance among children in Massachusetts in 1987 and 1990. Public Health Rep. 1994 Mar-Apr;109(2):226–233. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Robles S. C., Marrett L. D., Clarke E. A., Risch H. A. An application of capture-recapture methods to the estimation of completeness of cancer registration. J Clin Epidemiol. 1988;41(5):495–501. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(88)90052-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sudman S., Sirken M. G., Cowan C. D. Sampling rare and elusive populations. Science. 1988 May 20;240(4855):991–996. doi: 10.1126/science.240.4855.991. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES