Using sexual affiliation networks to describe the sexual structure of a population

Abstract

The structure of sexual networks has a central role in the dynamics of transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable data on sexual contacts between individuals. However, the venues where people recruit sexual partners may provide valuable information on sexual networks. This article reviews how data on "sexual affiliations" between people and venues may be collected, analysed, and used for surveillance and prevention of STIs.

Social network methodology for studying HIV epidemiology in men having sex with men

“…The connectivity of MSM shown in the 1-mode network diagrams was inferred from the respondents' linkages with sex partnership locations, which did not mean that the individuals actually had sex with the others. The processes of data transformation may have reduced the sensitivity of the network methods to detect clustering [14]. Our approach also carried other limitations.…”

“…In this pilot study, we set out to track HIV epidemiology by examining the affiliation of MSM with locations where they seek sex partners, on the principle of the duality of place (where MSM seeks partner) and person (the MSM). We considered that that people affiliated with the same place were closer in relationship with one another [14]. Using a social network analysis (SNA) framework, exploration was conducted on data collected from a behavioural survey administered on MSM with recently diagnosed HIV infection.…”

An attempt to assess the value of epidemiological structure of sexual networks in the detection of syphilis infection

“…Literature reports underscore that analyzing the structure of networks of connections existing between sources of infection and their sexual contacts makes it possible to forecast incidence patterns [7,8,16,17] and phases of epidemics [4,16,19], and to isolate groups depending on behaviours [9], social and ethnic background and regions [9,18,19]. The problems are extensively discussed by Doherty et al [20].…”

“…Having analyzed links between 316 patients included in our study, we were only able to identify a typical k-core network comprising 18 patients during the microepidemic which occurred in C in 1995, which may result from the greater number of early syphilis cases (40 patients), local microepidemics and meticulous epidemiological investigation. The importance of reliable data on sexual contacts, and difficulties involved in gathering such data, are discussed by Frost [17], who emphasizes their significance for a precise analysis of the structure of the connection network. Doherty et al [18] draw attention to the fact that regions characterized by stable low incidence rates and high numbers of cases tend to have networks that are small and dendritic, suggesting the endemic nature of epidemics.…”

Six challenges in measuring contact networks for use in modelling

“…As locations may structure social and sexual networks, data on these locations, while unlikely to offer detailed insights, may help to rule out particular network structures and generate more representative estimates of population composition (Karon and Wejnert, 2012). Data on an individual's "affiliations" to particular places have yet to be fully exploited (Frost, 2007), in part due to the lack of methods that can be applied to these sources of data. Like RDS, TLS also generates a biased sample of the network.…”