IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i15p5504-d391963.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of Self-Reported Sexual Activity Among Heterosexuals with Sexual Spread of Poorly Transmittable Agents: A Minimalistic Approach to Estimating Sexual Activity Based on HIV Incidence

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Hahn

    (Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany)

  • Christoph Kröger

    (Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Hildesheim, 31141 Hildesheim, Germany)

  • Christian G. Meyer

    (Faculty of Medicine, Duy Tan University, ĐàNẵng 550000, Vietnam
    Institute of Tropical Medicine, Eberhard Karls University, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
    Vietnamese-German Center of Medical Research, Hanoi 113601, Vietnam)

  • Ulrike Loderstädt

    (Diagnostic Department, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Thomas Meyer

    (Clinic of Dermatology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University, 44791 Bochum, Germany)

  • Hagen Frickmann

    (Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany
    Department of Microbiology and Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, 22049 Hamburg, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to the research.)

  • Andreas Erich Zautner

    (Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to the research.)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess whether epidemics of sexually transmitted infections caused by poorly transmittable agents corresponded to self-reported sexual activity in a distinct population. To exemplify this, a model was used to investigate whether HIV infection incidences corresponded to the extent of sexual activity as assessed by a questionnaire-based study. The model suggested between 97 and 486 sexual contacts per German individual during a sexually active lifetime based on the annual HIV incidence of 680 among the heterosexual population reported by the German National Health Authority. This is in line with the estimated 296 sexual contacts during one’s lifetime, which was indicated by questionnaire respondents. The model confirms the correspondence of self-reported sexual activity with HIV incidence as reported by the German National Health Authority. Accordingly, HIV incidence- and prevalence-based modeling of sexual activity in a population provides crude estimations in situations where a range of uncertainty is acceptable. The model’s veracity is limited by a number of assumptions necessitated by the paucity of data. Nevertheless, the model may be suitable in settings where severe reporting bias has to be expected for legal or socio-cultural reasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Hahn & Christoph Kröger & Christian G. Meyer & Ulrike Loderstädt & Thomas Meyer & Hagen Frickmann & Andreas Erich Zautner, 2020. "Comparison of Self-Reported Sexual Activity Among Heterosexuals with Sexual Spread of Poorly Transmittable Agents: A Minimalistic Approach to Estimating Sexual Activity Based on HIV Incidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-9, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5504-:d:391963
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5504/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5504/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Choi, K.-H. & Catania, J.A. & Dolcini, M.M., 1994. "Extramarital sex and HIV risk behavior among US adults: Results from the National AIDS Behavioral Survey," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(12), pages 2003-2007.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5504-:d:391963. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.