Heterosexual partnership characteristics of university women

In order to assess the individual risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), both characteristics of the partnership and the individual should be considered. Partnership characteristics have been used as risk markers for STD transmission but their distribution has not been well described. Using a self-administered questionnaire, we collected information on the partnership characteristics of the 4 most recent sexual partners of the members of 9 university women's social organizations at the University of Michigan. Respondents were asked to report the setting of the first meeting of partners, the length of the presexual relationship, condom use at the first sexual encounter and the total number of sexual encounters within that partnership. We graphically analyse changes in these partnership characteristics with respect to partnership order. As the number of sexual partners increased the women in this population were more likely to report partnership characteristics associated with an increased risk of acquiring an STD. In addition, partnership characteristics varied with the order of the partnership, implying that no single partnership is representative of all others.