Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Is the risk for sexually transmissible infections (STI) lower among women with exclusively female sexual partners compared with women with male partners? A retrospective study based on attendees at a Norwegian STI clinic from 2004 to 2014

Is the risk for sexually transmissible infections (STI) lower among women with exclusively female... Background: The prevalence of and the risk for sexually transmissible infections (STIs) for women engaging in same-sex sexual behaviour was investigated among women attending an STI clinic. Methods: Data from electronic medical records were reviewed and logistic regression used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of STIs. Women reporting life-time exclusively female partners (WSW) and women reporting female and male partners (WSWM) were compared with women reporting exclusively male partners (WSM). Outcomes included: Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium, Neisseria gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis. Results: The study population comprised 103564 women (WSW 641, WSWM 12010 and WSM 90913). Overall prevalence of STIs was 8%. Crude OR of STIs for WSW: 0.56 (95% CI 0.390.81), for WSWM: 0.99 (95% CI 0.921.06) compared with WSM. Multivariate analysis revealed an interaction effect between same-sex sexual behaviour and smoking. Among non-smokers WSW adjusted OR was 0.41 (95% CI 0.210.80), WSWM adjusted OR was 0.91 (95% CI 0.811.02) compared with WSM. Among smokers WSW adjusted OR was 1.03 (95% CI 0.631.67) for WSWM adjusted OR was 1.00 (CI 95% 0.931.13), compared with WSM. Conclusion: This study, including the largest cohort of women reporting life-time exclusively female partners in an STI study, shows that WSW generally are at lower risk for acquiring STIs than WSM. Smoking WSW, however, had the same risk for acquiring bacterial STIs as WSM and WSWM. Our study suggests that all WSW should receive the same encouragement to test for STIs as WSM. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Sexual Health CSIRO Publishing

Is the risk for sexually transmissible infections (STI) lower among women with exclusively female sexual partners compared with women with male partners? A retrospective study based on attendees at a Norwegian STI clinic from 2004 to 2014

Download PDF
8 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/csiro-publishing/is-the-risk-for-sexually-transmissible-infections-sti-lower-among-ytOXpAjIQe

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s). Published by CSIRO Publishing
ISSN
1448-5028
eISSN
1449-8987
DOI
10.1071/SH15193
pmid
27050292
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of and the risk for sexually transmissible infections (STIs) for women engaging in same-sex sexual behaviour was investigated among women attending an STI clinic. Methods: Data from electronic medical records were reviewed and logistic regression used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of STIs. Women reporting life-time exclusively female partners (WSW) and women reporting female and male partners (WSWM) were compared with women reporting exclusively male partners (WSM). Outcomes included: Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium, Neisseria gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis. Results: The study population comprised 103564 women (WSW 641, WSWM 12010 and WSM 90913). Overall prevalence of STIs was 8%. Crude OR of STIs for WSW: 0.56 (95% CI 0.390.81), for WSWM: 0.99 (95% CI 0.921.06) compared with WSM. Multivariate analysis revealed an interaction effect between same-sex sexual behaviour and smoking. Among non-smokers WSW adjusted OR was 0.41 (95% CI 0.210.80), WSWM adjusted OR was 0.91 (95% CI 0.811.02) compared with WSM. Among smokers WSW adjusted OR was 1.03 (95% CI 0.631.67) for WSWM adjusted OR was 1.00 (CI 95% 0.931.13), compared with WSM. Conclusion: This study, including the largest cohort of women reporting life-time exclusively female partners in an STI study, shows that WSW generally are at lower risk for acquiring STIs than WSM. Smoking WSW, however, had the same risk for acquiring bacterial STIs as WSM and WSWM. Our study suggests that all WSW should receive the same encouragement to test for STIs as WSM.

Journal

Sexual Health – CSIRO Publishing

Published: Apr 7, 2016

References

  • Lesbian women’s experiences with health care: a qualitative study.
    Bjorkman M Malterud K
  • Correlates of a lifetime history of sexually transmitted infections among women who have sex with women in Toronto, Canada: results from a cross-sectional internet-based survey.
    Logie CH Navia D Loutfy MR
  • Barriers to infectious disease care among lesbians.
    Marrazzo JM
  • Risks and prevention of sexually transmissible infections among women who have sex with women.
    McNair R
  • Lower sexually transmissible infection prevalence among lifetime exclusive women who have sex with women compared with women who have sex with women and men.
    Muzny CA Kapil R Austin EL Hook EW Geisler WM
  • Bacterial vaginosis in lesbians and bisexual women.
    Bailey JV Farquhar C Owen C
  • Sexually transmitted infections and risk behaviours in women who have sex with women.
    Fethers K Marks C Mindel A Estcourt CS
  • Characteristics of female sexually transmitted disease clinic clients who report same-sex behaviour.
    Marrazzo JM Koutsky LA Handsfield HH
  • Women who report having sex with women: British national probability data on prevalence, sexual behaviors, and health outcomes.
    Mercer CH Bailey JV Johnson AM Erens B Wellings K Fenton KA Copas AJ
  • Sexually transmitted infections and risk behaviors among African American women who have sex with women: does sex with men make a difference?
    Muzny CA Sunesara IR Martin DH Mena LA
  • Epidemiological research on marginalized groups implies major validity challenges; lesbian health as an example.
    Malterud K Bjorkman M Flatval M Ohnstad A Thesen J Rortveit G
  • Chlamydia trachomatis infection among women reporting sexual activity with women screened in family planning clinics in the Pacific Northwest, 1997 to 2005.
    Singh D Fine DN Marrazzo JM
  • Bacterial vaginosis: a public health review.
    Morris M Nicoll A Simms I Wilson J Catchpole M
  • The influence of behaviors and relationships on the vaginal microbiota of women and their female partners: the WOW Health Study.
    Bradshaw CS Walker SM Vodstrcil LA Bilardi JE Law M Hocking JS Fethers KA Fehler G Petersen S Tabrizi SN Chen MY Garland SM Fairley CK
  • Sexual risk factors and bacterial vaginosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
    Fethers KA Fairley CK Hocking JS Gurrin LC Bradshaw CS
  • Tobacco use increases susceptibility to bacterial infection.
    Bagaitkar J Demuth DR Scott DA
  • Prevalence of the addictions: a problem of the majority or the minority?
    Sussman S Lisha N Griffiths M
  • Sexual behavior and illicit drug use.
    Ross MW Williams ML
  • Drug use, drug severity, and help-seeking behaviors of lesbian and bisexual women.
    Corliss HL Grella CE Mays VM Cochran SD
  • Female-to-female transmission of syphilis: a case report.
    Campos-Outcalt D Hurwitz S
  • Female-to-female transmission of human immunodeficiency virus.
    Kwakwa HA Ghobrial MW
  • Likely female-to-female sexual transmission of HIV–Texas, 2012.
    Chan SK Thornton LR Chronister KJ Chan SK Thornton LR Chronister KJ Meyer J Wolverton M Johnson CK Arafat RR Joyce PM Switzer WM Heneine W Shankar A Granade T Owen MS Sprinkle P Sullivan V