Social class differences in sexual behaviour and cervical cancer.

Abstract

The relationship between sexual behaviour and social class has been assessed in 370 women recruited at family planning clinics in eight cities in the United Kingdom. Women of lower social class, measured both by occupation and by age at completion of full-time education, experienced sexual intercourse at an earlier age but accumulated fewer sexual partners than women of higher social class. These results are inconsistent with the idea that social classs differences in cervical cancer incidence and mortality can be ascribed to more promiscuous sexual behaviour in women of lower social class. They do not exclude the possibility of more promiscuous sexual behaviour in lower social class men, but they draw attention once again to the fact that early age at first intercourse may offer at least a partial explanation for the relationship between cervical cancer and social class.