Sexual Behaviour and Health Risk Flashcards
What are the main issues with sexual health?
Diseases
- Bacterial - Chlamydia, Goborrhea, Syphilis, + others
- Viral - Hepatitis B, A, C and E possibly D, Herpes Simplex, HIV, HPV + others
- Fungal - Candidiasis
- Parasites - Crab louse, Scabies
- Protazoal - Trichomoniasis
Pregnancy - Teen pregnancy - Unwanted pregnancy = Abortion – http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/did-you-know/ How many per year?
- Domestic Violence
What are some facts about sexual health?
Earlier first intercourse is related to negative health outcomes (Abma et al. 1998; Dickson et al, 1998; Sandfort, Orr, Hirsch, & Santelli, 2008; Wight et al 2000;).
There are roughtly 9 million STI’s found in US population between 15 and 24 years each year (Rangel et al, 2006; Weinstock et al, 2004). Also 750,000 teen pregnancies per year in US.
Mueller et al (2007) – 9% of females and 10% of males report first sexual experience occurred before 15 years of age. Report suggests school based sexual education works increases number of males and females using protection at first sexual experience.
Sex education is linked to more use of protection at first intercourse and heathier adult outcomes (Bourke, Boduszek, Kelleher, McBride, & Morgan, 2014).
100 years of STIs in the UK: a review of national surveillance data- (Mohammed, Blomquist, Ogaz, Duffell, Furegato, Checchi, & Dunbar, 2018).
Jonason & Fisher 2009 – US sample of college students mean age 22years – average number of sexual partners reported Males = 13, females = 5. BUT widely recognized that men overestimate and women underestimate number of previous partners, also small sample but in general agreement with larger samples - why?
Men use prostitutes more
More social constraints on women than men
Prestige vs. dishonour
What are the treatments?
Antibiotics
Antivirals
What are some facts about pregnancy and abortion?
180,000 Abortions in UK per annum
Each year, 20 million abortions take place in unsafe conditions and as a consequence, an estimated 80,000 women die
1.25 billion cannot access abortion services
38,295 pregnancies in UK per annum to girls under 18 years.
Issues
Tackling them?
What are some studies regarding domestic violence?
Archer (2000) Sex differences in agression in cohabiting / married couples?
Life time prevalence 7% men, 20% women – early data (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000).
However, other reports suggest equal rates of violence in the home towards both sexes i.e. male on female and female on male (Tolan et al 2006). However Tolan cautions us to be careful because much of the early research was based on domestic violence shelters and hospital admissions. While this highlighted the often horrific consequences of male on female violence it missed much female on male violence because it is traditionally hidden.
Most modern data suggests prevalence rates of violence against men and women are similar (Costa, Soares, Lindert, Hatzidimitriadou, Sundin, Toth, & Barros, 2015)
What are the sex differences in reporting domestic violence?
Sex differences in reporting?
Stets & Straus (1990) –
Chan, K. L. (2011). Gender differences in self-reports of intimate partner violence: A review. Aggression and
Violent Behavior, 16(2), 167-175.
Reasons??
see panopto
What are the issues with defining sexual health?
What is sexual health?
Definition influenced strongly by 1948 WHO definition of health itself.
However initial early definitions of sexual health focused almost exclusively on reproductive health.
This is overly narrow as most instances of sexual contact do not involve reproductive aims. (WHO 2012)
What does WHO suggest to focus on for sexual health interventions?
WHO suggests need to focus on 5 domains:
- Laws, policies and human rights
- Education
- Society and culture
- Economics
- Health systems
Research suggests most effective interventions are based around intervening in early and adult education and modifying social norms
One issue concerns the fact that social norms vary enormously by culture and socioeconomic background even within nations
What are the technological interventions of sexual health?
Since the advent of the internet and advances in mobile phone based technology the world has radically changed. These technologies are used more by younger people.
This is important as young people have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (CDC, 2009, 2010)
Example early life pre mobile technology and internet.
However new technologies can offer another key intervention route which to date has been little explored.
What is known about technological interventions?
Text message based information and help services are effective in promoting short term behaviour change – Lim et al 2012; Guse et al 2012.
There are mixed findings relating to the effects of new technology on sexual health – some provide evidence of negative impacts, others neutral some positive. The answer lies not in the technology but the fact anything can be used for benefits or harms.
- Technology has changed sexual practices e.g. internet and changing sexual norms
- Technology affects what individuals see as normative which is a key component of several models of health behaviour change
But critically:
41% of adolescents state they have changed their behaviour in the past due to online health information (Skinner et al. 2003; Ybarra & Suman, 2008)
Report liking the anonymity of seeking advice through this method
Whiteley et al (2012) investigated online educational websites for sexual health and report relatively good online content that aims to be appealing to relevant populations. However they note the lack of sites with mobile compatibility although this is changing.
Bailey, J., Mann, S., Wayal, S., Abraham, C., & Murray, E. (2015). Digital media interventions for sexual health promotion—opportunities and challenges.
Can use of social media influence sexual behaviours?
Social networks are now a common feature of everyday life
But can their use affect our sexual behaviour?
Group discussion
How might they do this
Why is this important? Because only 40% of sexually active university students reports regular condom use (DiClemente et al. 1990; Rotermann 2008; Eisenberg 2001)
Furthermore 47% of young men and 33% of young women report having has sexual contact via a casual “hook up” (Paul et al 2000).
Young et al (2013) report perceptions of others behavior via facebook can affect likelihood of engaging in risky sexual practices.
What does Jamal et al say regarding sexual behaviours?
Jamal et al (2015)
While teenage pregnancies have declined in the UK they remain the highest in Western Europe and STI rates remain high. Sexual violence remains a major concern.
Report that sexual behaviours are strongly influenced by social norms albeit filtered through culture which is changing rapidly due to technology.
