Estimates of sexual partnership dynamics: extending negative and positive gaps to status lengths

Castillo-Guajardo, Derik; Garcı́a-Ramos, Gisela

doi:10.1136/jech.2008.085936

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

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“…Firstly, other than NATSAL II, we know only of a few other studies23 24 with detailed partnership data. In particular, it is the correlation between partnership length and gaps that need to be better understood in order to more appropriately target interventions.…”

Section: The Importance Of Intrapair Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Republished paper: Populations and partnerships: insights from metapopulation and pair models into the epidemiology of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections

Chen

Ghani

2010

Sexually Transmitted Infections

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Section: The Importance Of Intrapair Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Republished paper: Populations and partnerships: insights from metapopulation and pair models into the epidemiology of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections

Chen

Ghani

2010

Sexually Transmitted Infections

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Serial Monogamy and Biologic Concurrency: Measurement of the Gaps Between Sexual Partners to Inform Targeted Strategies

Mercer¹,

Aicken²,

Tanton³

et al. 2013

American Journal of Epidemiology

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Having multiple sexual partners concurrently increases the risk of transmission of a sexually transmitted infection. Even if partnerships do not overlap, transmission potential exists when the gap between partnerships is shorter than the remaining infectious period. In the present article, we quantify the gap between partners to assess transmission potential using data collected by a cross-sectional survey of 2,203 genitourinary medicine clinic patients in England in 2009. Questionnaires asked about patients' 3 most recent partnerships. Gaps were calculated as time (days) between the last sexual encounter with a former partner and the first sexual encounter with the next partner. Among 1,875 patients who reported 1 or more partners in the previous 3 months, 47.6% of men and 27.7% of women reported 2 or more partners. Forty-two percent of the gaps were negative (i.e., partnerships that were concurrent); the median gaps were -7 and -17 days for men and women, respectively (i.e., overlaps were 7 and 17 days for men and women, respectively). Although half of the gaps were positive (serially monogamous partnerships), many were of short duration; the median gaps were 14 and 24 days for men and women, respectively. In over half of the gaps, condoms were used inconsistently with one or both partners, and in one-quarter, condoms were never used with either partner. There is thus a high potential for sexually transmitted infections, as even if partnerships are not behaviorally concurrent, they may be biologically concurrent. These data have important implications for designing and targeting effective health promotion messages.

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Sexual Partnership Patterns Among South African Adolescent Girls Enrolled in STI Preventions Trial Network 068

Nguyen¹,

Powers²,

MacPhail³

et al. 2015

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

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Background Estimates of sexual partnership durations, gaps between partnerships, and overlaps across partnerships are important for understanding sexual partnership patterns and developing interventions to prevent transmission of HIV/STIs. However, a validated, optimal approach for estimating these parameters, particularly when partnerships are ongoing, has not been established. Methods We assessed four approaches for estimating partnership parameters using cross-sectional reports on dates of first and most recent sex and partnership status (ongoing or not) from 654 adolescent girls in rural South Africa. The first, commonly used, approach assumes all partnerships have ended, resulting in underestimated durations for ongoing partnerships. The second approach treats reportedly ongoing partnerships as right-censored, resulting in bias if partnership status is reported with error. We propose two “hybrid” approaches, which assign partnership status to reportedly ongoing partnerships based on how recently girls last had sex with their partner. We estimate partnership duration, gap length, and overlap length under each approach using Kaplan-Meier methods with a robust variance estimator. Results Median partnership duration and overlap length varied considerably across approaches (from 368 to 1,024 days and 168 to 409 days, respectively), but gap length was stable. Lifetime prevalence of concurrency ranged from 28% to 33%, and at least half of gap lengths were shorter than 6 months, suggesting considerable potential for HIV/STI transmission. Conclusion Estimates of partnership duration and overlap lengths are highly dependent on measurement approach. Understanding the effect of different approaches on estimates is critical for interpreting partnership data and utilizing estimates to predict HIV/STI transmission rates.

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Estimates of sexual partnership dynamics: extending negative and positive gaps to status lengths

Abstract: One of the new status lengths (M-C) qualitatively indicates the transmission risk to an upcoming concurrent partner. The set of four status lengths may be useful in the context of epidemiological models with partnership dynamics.

Cited by 5 publications

References 35 publications

Republished paper: Populations and partnerships: insights from metapopulation and pair models into the epidemiology of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections

Republished paper: Populations and partnerships: insights from metapopulation and pair models into the epidemiology of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections

Serial Monogamy and Biologic Concurrency: Measurement of the Gaps Between Sexual Partners to Inform Targeted Strategies

Sexual Partnership Patterns Among South African Adolescent Girls Enrolled in STI Preventions Trial Network 068

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