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Objectives. We estimated the prevalence of same-sex experience among women and compared women reporting sex with women and men and women reporting sex exclusively with women with women reporting sex exclusively with men, in terms of sociodemographics and sexual, reproductive, and general health risk behaviors and outcomes.
Methods. We used a British probability survey (n = 6399 women, aged 16 to 44 years) conducted from 1999 to 2001 with face-to-face interviewing and computer-assisted self-interviewing.
Results. We found that 4.9% of the women reported same-sex partner(s) ever; 2.8% reported sex with women in the past 5 years (n = 178); 85.0% of these women also reported male partner(s) in this time. Compared with women who reported sex exclusively with men, women who reported sex with women and men reported significantly greater male partner numbers, unsafe sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, and intravenous drug use and had an increased likelihood of induced abortion and sexually transmitted infection diagnoses (age-adjusted odds ratios = 3.07 and 4.41, respectively).
Conclusions. For women, a history of sex with women may be a marker for increased risk of adverse sexual, reproductive, and general health outcomes compared with women who reported sex exclusively with men. A nonjudgmental review of female patients' sexual history should help practitioners discuss risks that women may face.
(Am J Public Health. 2007;97:1126-1133. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2006.086439)
Sex between women is thought to be low risk for transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI) such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, or HFV.1"3 However, studies from several countries indicate that women who have sex with women (WSW) may in fact be at greater risk than women with exclusively male partners, through behaviors such as risky sex with male sexual partners and activities such as injection drug use (IDU).4"7
Most studies of WSW use convenience sampling in clinic or community settings because WSW are a hard-to-reach, "hidden" population.8 Convenience samples drawn from selected populations are not generalizable to all WSW, and there are few robust data internationally that measure prevalence, characteristics, and health outcomes in WSW from representative, general population samples. We noted a marked increase in the reported prevalence of sexual intercourse between women in Britain in the 10 years between the 2 National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal).9 The most recent survey, Natsal...