Low Frequency Of Intercourse Research Articles

Impact on sexually transmitted disease spread of increased condom use by young females, 1987-1992.

Sexual behaviour data are crucial for understanding the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Over a period (1987-1992) in which the HIV epidemic increased public awareness of safe sexual practices, we describe predictors of condom use, changes in condom use over time, and the estimated effects of these changes on the spread of STD. Condom use reported by females aged 18-35 years with non-cohabiting partners was analysed using data from two cross-sectional postal surveys performed 5 years apart (1987 and 1992) on two separate representative samples of 10,000 subjects aged 18-60 years living in Norway. A simple mathematical model was used to assess the effects of selection bias. A more complicated model was used to predict the effects of condom use on the prevalence of STD in a population which includes a core group of highly sexually active subjects. We found an increase in the prevalence of condom use in the latest intercourse from 14% to 20% with non-foreign partners and from 10% to 38% with foreign partners, from 1987 to 1992. In a logistic regression model, low frequency of intercourse, high education, one lifetime partner, and late sexual debut were predictors for condom use. Controlled for these variables, the odds ratio (OR) for condom use in 1992 versus 1987 was 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9-2.0) if the partner was non-foreign, and 7.1 (95% CI: 2.5-20.5) if the partner was foreign. Not using other contraceptive methods was a strong predictor for condom use; OR = 17.4 (95% CI: 8.0-38.0). Condom use in the first intercourse with the last partner was a strong predictor for condom use in the last intercourse; OR = 19.2 (95% CI: 8.2-45.3). It appeared unlikely that the increase in condom use could be explained by response bias. The predicted reductions in STD prevalence due to the increase in condom use ranged from zero to 30% depending on consistency of use, and on the agent that is transmitted. Condom use among 18-35 year old women has increased over the period, particularly with foreign partners. Condoms are used primarily as contraception. The prevalences of STD with high transmission rates are not reduced by inconsistent condom use, while the prevalences of STD with low transmission rates are reduced by both consistent and inconsistent condom use. Condom use in a core group is more effective for reducing the STD prevalence than condom use in the non-core group for gonorrhoea and HIV. For chlamydial infection, condom use in the non-core group is more effective.

The core group revisited: The effect of partner mixing and migration on the spread of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV

A set of differential equations are used to model the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in a one-sex population that includes a core group of highly sexually active subjects. The effects of partner mixing between groups and migration to and from the core on the equilibrium number of infected are shown for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV. The STDs are described by the transmission probability per sexual contact and the duration of infectiousness. Partner change and intercourse frequencies are estimated from sexual survey data on heterosexual behavior. The core group is small (3% of the total population) with a partner change frequency 15 times and an intercourse frequency 2 times that of the remaining population. The degree of partner mixing and migration between the two groups can be varied. The number of sexual contacts in the three types of partnerships (core-core, “mixed,” remaining population-remaining population) is also modeled. The mixed partnerships are assumed to be casual and to have a low frequency of intercourse. The model is fairly simple, and the emphasis is on qualitative rather that predictive results. The effects of partner mixing are found to be strikingly different for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV. With increasing partner mixing between groups, gonorrhea shows a small increase and then a decrease in the total number of infected, whereas chlamydial infection shows a strong increase. For HIV infection the effect depends on the transmission probability; when it is 0.001 per sexual contact, the number of infected with HIV is almost unaffected by the partner mixing, and when the transmission probability is 0.002 per sexual contact, there is a strong increase in the number of HIV infected with increasing partner mixing. The effects of migration are also different for each disease. With increasing migration between groups, gonorrhea is almost unaffected in the total number of infected, whereas chlamydial infection shows a strong increase. For HIV the effect again depends on the transmission probability; when it is 0.001 per sexual contact, the number of infected with HIV shows a strong decrease, and when the transmission probability is 0.002 per sexual contact the number of HIV infected reaches its maximum for medium strong migration. A sensitivity analysis shows that for all three diseases the basic reproductive ratios ( R 0) and the total number of infected are sensitive to duration of infectiousness. In addition, for gonorrhea and chlamydia, R 0 is sensitive to the partner change rates in the core, whereas for HIV, R 0 is sensitive to the frequency of intercourse in the core. Further, the total number of infected is sensitive to the partner change rates in the core for gonorrhea, to the partner change rates in the remaining population for chlamydia, and to the frequency of intercourse in the core for HIV. It is concluded that differences in transmission probability and duration of infectiousness that lead to different basic reproductive ratios can cause the effects of partner mixing and migration to be very different for different STDs. The potential effects of migration raise the issue of whether sexual behavior is mainly age-dependent or mainly cohort-dependent.

Cultural Influences on the Timing of First Births in India: Large Differences that add up to Little Difference

In this paper I comment on the unexpected finding from primary and secondary data that, although the age at effective marriage is significantly lower in North India compared to the southern part of the country, mother's age at first birth is very similar in both regions. That is, the first birth interval is much longer in the North. Standard socio-economic and biological reasons for this difference are found to provide incomplete and unsatisfactory explanations – instead, the longer first birth interval in North India is explained in terms of the marriage and kinship patterns in this area which lead to (i) lower frequency of intercourse and (ii) long periods of abstinence when the wife visits her parental home. Both these factors operate primarily during the first years of marriage and result in a convergence of the ages at first birth in the two regions. The argument, therefore, questions the correctness of policy prescriptions which equate early marriage with an early start of childbearing, and seek to ...

Sexual Behavior, Church Attendance, and Permissive Beliefs among Unmarried Young Men and Women

Using a sample of 423 single men and women, we studied the frequency of sexual intercourse. It was predicted that to understand the conflicting findings about the effects of church attendance on young people's sexual behavior, other variables need to be considered. Accordingly, a five-way analysis of variance design, with independent variables of church attendance, sexual permissiveness, age, state, and gender, was used to study the dependent variables of sexual behavior. The only variable with a significant main effect was sexual permissiveness, not church attendance. However, there was a significant two-way interaction between church attendance and permissiveness and between permissiveness and gender. The means for permissive and nonpermissive females were similar, but for males the nonpermissive subjects had dramatically lower intercourse frequency. The interaction between church attendance and permissiveness resulted because nonpermissive males and females who attended church had the lowest frequency, but permissive subjects who attended church every week had one of the highest frequencies of sexual intercourse. The results are discussed in the context of other research on the relationship between church attendance and sexual behavior. We concluded that lower rates of sexual activity for this age group occur when there is a high level of church attendance but also a low level of sexual permissiveness.

Contraceptive method switching among American female adolescents, 1979

Better knowledge about contraceptive use in adolescents is needed if pregnancy prevention is to be improved. Data from the 1979 National Survey of Young Women were used to examine method switching once contraceptive use had begun among 449 never-pregnant young women who reported premarital intercourse more than once. Bivariate chi2 tests and multivariate logit regression were used to examine factors related to switching in four analyses: overall switching; switching among those with one intercourse partner; and switching from nonmedical and medical methods separately. Frequency of intercourse and type of first method had an interactive effect on switching; length of exposure to switching, type of relationship, and reason for choosing the first method were also significant. These results suggest that providers and educators should consider the circumstances under which contraceptive methods are chosen and used by young women when counseling them as to what method may be best for them.