The multiple dimensions of sexual behavior as risk factor for sexually transmitted disease: the sexually experienced are not necessarily sexually active

• Published in: Sexually transmitted diseases Vol. 16; no. 4; p. 173
• Main Authors: Aral, S O, Cates, Jr, W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.1989
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Female; Humans; Risk Factors; Sexual Behavior; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - transmission; United States - epidemiology; United States
• ISSN: 0148-5717
• DOI: 10.1097/00007435-198910000-00003

Sexual behavior is a crucial risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but no national data exist to define a true population at risk. Instead, limited information describes sexual behavior in specific population groups (adolescents, women in their twenties) only in terms of a single dimension: sexual experience. To address the multiple dimensions of sexual behavior, we analyzed data collected from a nationally representative sample of reproductive age women in the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). We found 86% of women aged 15-44 to be sexually experienced. Teenagers are the least experienced (45% and 56% of whites and others, respectively) and the least sexually active of all reproductive women. While sexual experience increases with age, sexual activity shows a curvilinear age pattern: it increases up to age 35 and decreases slightly from age 35 to 44. Teenagers report the least consistent sexual activity (less than 25%) and the highest level of abstention (38% and 31% for whites and others, respectively) following sexual experience. These findings indicate sexual experience as a measure of sexual behavior should be further refined to provide a more accurate estimate of the population at risk for STD.