Table 5.

Effects of union status on health outcomes for gays and lesbians: NHIS, 2013–2017 (N = 2,654)

	Self-rated Health (odds ratios)				Functional Limitation (incidence rate ratios)
	Model 1a	Model 2a	Model 3a	Model 4a	Model 1b	Model 2b	Model 3b	Model 4b
Union Status (ref. = married)
Cohabiting	0.85	1.00	0.93	1.04	0.95	0.87	0.95	0.88
	(0.13)	(0.17)	(0.15)	(0.18)	(0.15)	(0.15)	(0.15)	(0.14)
Never married	0.64**	1.00	0.74*	1.04	1.18	0.85	1.09	0.87
	(0.09)	(0.15)	(0.11)	(0.16)	(0.18)	(0.13)	(0.15)	(0.13)
Previously married	0.63*	1.19	0.75	1.22	1.24	0.81	1.09	0.82
	(0.12)	(0.25)	(0.15)	(0.27)	(0.23)	(0.16)	(0.21)	(0.16)
Income ($1,000s)		1.01***		1.01***		0.997*		1.00
		(0.00)		(0.00)		(0.00)		(0.00)
Education (ref. = less than high school)
High school or equivalent		1.20		1.10		1.01		1.08
		(0.32)		(0.31)		(0.21)		(0.21)
Some college		1.18		1.05		0.88		1.01
		(0.31)		(0.28)		(0.16)		(0.18)
Bachelor’s degree or above		1.38		1.11		0.84		0.97
		(0.35)		(0.29)		(0.18)		(0.20)
Employment (ref. = working/schooling)
Unemployed/unable to work		0.27***		0.30***		3.61***		3.03***
		(0.04)		(0.05)		(0.41)		(0.35)
Retired		1.32		1.25		1.05		1.06
		(0.28)		(0.27)		(0.17)		(0.18)
Perceived Financial Strain		0.72***		0.72***		1.45***		1.44***
		(0.05)		(0.05)		(0.10)		(0.09)
Current Smoker			0.48***	0.63**			1.81***	1.25*
			(0.06)	(0.08)			(0.21)	(0.14)
Drinking (ref. = not a current drinker)
Drinker, 1–2 drinks per day of drinking			1.52**	1.34*			0.60***	0.73*
			(0.21)	(0.18)			(0.07)	(0.09)
Drinker, 3+ drinks per day of drinking			1.49*	1.39			0.69***	0.75*
			(0.24)	(0.23)			(0.10)	(0.10)
Vigorous Exercise 2+ Times per Week			2.07***	1.58***			0.43***	0.59***
			(0.23)	(0.17)			(0.05)	(0.07)
Age	0.97***	0.97***	0.98***	0.97***	1.04***	1.04***	1.04***	1.04***
	(0.00)	(0.00)	(0.00)	(0.00)	(0.00)	(0.00)	(0.00)	(0.00)
Female (ref. = male)	0.79*	0.96	0.87	1.01	1.77***	1.67***	1.67***	1.58***
	(0.08)	(0.10)	(0.08)	(0.10)	(0.18)	(0.17)	(0.17)	(0.15)
Race (ref. = white)
Black	0.62**	0.90	0.62**	0.86	1.32	0.98	1.29	0.99
	(0.10)	(0.14)	(0.10)	(0.14)	(0.24)	(0.16)	(0.22)	(0.16)
Asian and others	0.81	0.84	0.81	0.84	0.89	1.03	0.80	0.93
	(0.15)	(0.17)	(0.15)	(0.17)	(0.20)	(0.28)	(0.17)	(0.21)
Hispanic (ref. = non-Hispanic)	0.91	1.07	0.90	1.02	0.96	0.84	0.98	0.84
	(0.15)	(0.17)	(0.16)	(0.17)	(0.16)	(0.16)	(0.17)	(0.16)
Region of residence (ref. = Northeast)
Midwest	0.84	1.07	0.91	1.09	0.97	0.91	0.94	0.92
	(0.14)	(0.18)	(0.16)	(0.18)	(0.17)	(0.15)	(0.15)	(0.15)
South	0.90	1.12	0.95	1.11	0.97	0.8	0.92	0.82
	(0.13)	(0.17)	(0.14)	(0.17)	(0.16)	(0.13)	(0.14)	(0.13)
West	0.91	1.02	0.86	0.98	1.00	0.98	0.18	1.05
	(0.15)	(0.16)	(0.14)	(0.16)	(0.16)	(0.16)	(0.19)	(0.17)
Survey Year (ref. = 2013)
2014	1.17	1.25	1.23	1.28	1.02	0.98	0.93	0.95
	(0.20)	(0.19)	(0.20)	(0.19)	(0.17)	(0.15)	(0.14)	(0.14)
2015	1.24	1.20	1.21	1.20	0.97	1.08	1.03	1.07
	(0.18)	(0.18)	(0.17)	(0.18)	(0.15)	(0.17)	(0.15)	(0.16)
2016	1.10	1.04	1.07	1.03	0.95	1.20	1.02	1.20
	(0.17)	(0.16)	(0.16)	(0.16)	(0.15)	(0.19)	(0.16)	(0.18)
2017	0.93	0.91	0.88	0.88	0.94	0.90	0.97	0.91
	(0.14)	(0.14)	(0.14)	(0.14)	(0.15)	(0.12)	(0.15)	(0.13)

Note: Standard errors are in parentheses.

^*p < .05;

^**p < .01;

^***p < .001