Do sexual minorities believe that they die earlier? Results from a large, representative survey

BACKGROUND: While various consequences of belonging to sexual minorities have been examined – it remains completely unclear whether sexual minorities believe that they die earlier. Thus, our aim was to investigate the association between sexual orientation and expected longevity. METHODS: Data from the German Ageing Survey, a nationally representative sample, were used (year 2014, n = 6,424 individuals; mean age: 63.6 years). It included individuals residing in private households aged 40 years and over in Germany. Sexual orientation (heterosexual; sexual minorities including homosexual, bisexual, or other) served as key independent variable. As outcome, we used the expected life expectancy. In multiple linear regressions it was adjusted for gender, age, education, marital status, labour force participation, BMI, smoking status, alcohol intake, sports activities, physical functioning, self-rated health and the number of chronic conditions. RESULTS: Adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle-related and health-related factors, our study showed that sexual minorities reported a lower expected longevity (β=-0.69, p = .02) compared to heterosexuals. This association remained nearly the same in robustness checks. CONCLUSION: After adjusting for various other factors, our findings showed a lower life expectancy among sexual minorities compared to heterosexuals. Efforts are required to make sexual minorities believe in a high life expectancy (e.g., increased optimism or reduced perceived discrimination) – which in turn can help to increase their actual longevity and successful ageing. Future research is required to explore underlying mechanisms (such as expected stigma in later life). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-023-04453-5.