Sex and disease. Playing the odds in the 1990s

Selected results from a recent study on sexual behavior in the United States are presented, focusing on the association between sexual behavior, disease prevention, and STD outcome. The data are from national household samples of adult men and women. The results show that a sizeable proportion of the U.S. adult population engage in sexual behaviors that expose them to the risk of acquiring STD. These behaviors tend to cluster so that the likelihood of engaging in one high-risk sexual activity is highly correlated with the likelihood of engaging in the other high-risk behaviors thereby increasing the risk of STD acquisition for these core groups. Although preventive behavior is relatively more prevalent in core groups, it is nowhere near the desired level, nor is it uniform across the risk groups. High-risk sexual behaviors are strongly correlated with the likelihood of self-reported STD experience, and prior STD history is strongly associated with subsequent preventive behavior.