• Katherine Sullivan, Madelyn K Simmang, Elroy J Aguiar, Lee J Winchester, Stefanie A Wind, Michael R Esco, and Michael V Fedewa.
• Department of Kinesiology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, United States of America; Division of Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, United States of America. Electronic address: hr2070@wayne.edu.
• Prev Med. 2023 Oct 1; 175: 107708107708.

UnlabelledResearch examining potential differences in physical activity (PA) between sexual minority women (SMW) and heterosexual women have yielded inconsistent results.ObjectiveTherefore, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to examine potential differences in PA between SMW and heterosexual women and to identify potential moderators that may partially explain observed differences in PA.MethodsAll studies were peer reviewed, published in English, and included a continuous measure of PA for SMW and heterosexual women. A standardized mean difference effect size (ES) was used to compare groups, with random effects models used to estimate a mean ES and 95% CI using a 3-level meta-analysis model to adjust for the correlation between effects nested within studies.ResultsThe cumulative results of 24 effects gathered from 7 studies indicated there was no difference in PA between SMW (n = 1619) and heterosexual women (n = 103,295) (ES = -0.038, 95%CI -0.179 to 0.102, p = 0.576). Despite no mean differences, moderate-high heterogeneity was observed, indicating that the results were not consistent across effects (I2 = 64.8%, Q23 = 36.7, p = 0.035). The difference in PA was associated with age (β = -0.018, 95%CI -0.034 to -0.003, p = 0.022) and BMI (β = -0.145, 95%CI -0.228 to -0.061, p = 0.002), with a quadratic relationship observed for both variables.ConclusionsAlthough the results of the current analysis did not indicate significant differences in PA behaviors between SMW and heterosexual women, age and BMI modify the association and are curvilinear in nature; such that smaller differences in PA were observed between SMW and heterosexual women when samples were middle-aged and overweight.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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