Sexual practices of women who have sex with women and condom use

Objective: to analyze the sexual practice of women who have sex with women and its association with condom use. Methods: correlational study involving 231 women who have sex with women, recruited through electronic application (Instagram and WhatsApp). A questionnaire was applied through Google Forms, containing sociodemographic data, sexual history, and the types of sexual practices. Results: most women performed oral sex (86.4%) and manual sex (86.9%) without using condoms. A large proportion (84.8%) reported the use of fomites in sexual practices without condoms. The inexistence of a fixed partnership (p=0.000) and the performance of sex with vaginal contact (p=0.013) were associated with sexual intercourse without condoms. Conclusion: the sexual practice of women who have sex with women points to greater vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections, by practicing oral and vaginal sex with manual practices without the use of barrier methods.

Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory differences between male urethral infections due to Haemophilus spp. and those due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium and Ureaplasma urealyticum: A descriptive study

Objective: To describe the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics of male patients diagnosed with Haemophilus spp. urethral infection and to compare them with the characteristics of male patients diagnosed with N. gonorrhoeae, C. trachomatis, M. genitalium and U. urealyticum urethral infection. Over the past 2 years, an increase in urethral infections due to Haemophilus spp. was observed. Materials and methods: All male patients who attended our Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections between January 2018 and February 2019 were retrospectively studied; they underwent conventional bacteriological and multiplex PCR studies in the urethra at the same time. Results: Of the 86 patients studied, a unique microorganism was detected in 76 cases, N. gonorrhoeae in 24, Haemophilus spp. in 21 (16 H. parainfluenzae and 5 H. influenzae), C. trachomatis in 19, M. genitalium in 8 and U. urealyticum in 4; 10 cases presented more than one microorganism. In case of multiple aetiological agents, sexual partnership was multiple. In the Haemophilus group, 81% reported only unprotected oral insertive sex; symptoms lasted for more than one week in 62% of the patients. Conclusions: Haemophilus is an aetiological agent of non-gonococcal urethritis whose incidence is clearly increasing; the main route of transmission is oral sex. The most common reason for consultation is dysuria and testicular pain, while urethral discharge was predominant for the other causes of urethral infection. Due to the high frequency of antibiotic resistance in the Haemophilus group, it is necessary to confirm eradication by performing a test of cure.

Oral, Vaginal and Anal Sexual Practices among Heterosexual Males and Females Attending a Sexual Health Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Melbourne, Australia

Sex practices among heterosexuals are not well studied. We aimed to explore sexual practices among heterosexuals attending a sexual health clinic. This cross-sectional survey was conducted at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between March and April 2019. Data were collected on kissing, oral sex (fellatio or cunnilingus), vaginal sex, anal sex and rimming in the previous 3 months. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between engaging in anal sex and other sex practices. There were 709 participants (333 men; 376 women) who were eligible and completed the survey (response rate was 24.6%). In the past 3 months, most participants had had vaginal sex (n = 677; 95.5%), with a mean of 3.0 (standard deviation (SD): 3.9) vaginal sex partners, and half reported engaging in condomless vaginal sex in the past 3 months (n = 358; 50.1%). A total of 135 (19.0%) participants had had anal sex, with a mean of 1.3 (SD: 1.0) anal sex partners, with 63.5% (n = 94) engaging in any condomless anal sex in the past 3 months. Most participants (n = 637, 89.8%) had received oral sex in the past 3 months; this proportion did not differ by age group or gender. Women (n = 351, 93.4%) were more likely to perform oral sex than men (n = 275; 82.6% men) (p < 0.001) and to have received rimming (26.6% women vs. 12.6% men; p < 0.001). Men were more likely to have performed rimming (25.5% men vs. 9.3% women; p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, number of partners and sexual practice, anal sex was associated with being ≥35 years (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2–4.2), receiving rimming (aOR: 3.8; 95% CI: 2.4–6.0) and performing rimming (aOR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.8–4.6). Rimming and anal sex are practiced by one-fifth or more of heterosexuals. Older heterosexuals were more likely to engage in anal sex and to perform rimming. Future research should consider the benefits of testing extragenital sites where appropriate.

Pornography Use Profiles and the Emergence of Sexual Behaviors in Adolescence

This research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, French kissing, petting, giving/receiving manual and oral sex, and intercourse, among 630 respondents (47.9% female, mean age 13.7 years; SD = 0.48) years at T1). A latent growth mixture analysis of pornography consumption revealed two groups with relatively low pornography (LP; 51.8% of the boys, 91.4% of the girls) versus high pornography (HP; 48.2% of the boys; 8.6% of the girls) consumption across time. At T1, HP boys on average watched pornography less than once a month, but more than once a year at T1. At T4, their average pornography use had increased to almost one to two times a week. LP boys never watched pornography at T1. At T4, their average pornography use was still less than once a year. At T1, HP girls never watched pornography, but consumption increased to almost one to three times a month at T4. Across waves of the study, LP girls (almost) never watched pornography. A discrete-time survival mixture analysis of sexual developmental patterning indicated that, compared to their LP peers, both girls and boys in the HP groups showed accelerated development of masturbation, petting, and receiving manual sex. Girls in the HP group were also more inclined to receive oral sex, whereas boys in the HP group also showed earlier and more frequent manual sex and intercourse. Thus, whereas the HP group of boys was substantially larger compared to that of girls, pornography consumption was related to accelerated development of sexual activities for both genders across early and middle adolescence. The discussion deliberates on pornography as a driving force in adolescent sexual development versus pornography as a medium of choice for sexually advanced adolescents.

Recognizing Sexually Transmitted Infections And Their Treatment

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are diseases that can be transmitted from one person to another, can be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. STIs can be transmitted through vaginal, anal, and oral sex. This article aims to identify STIs and their management. The sources used are scientific journals and textbooks. Source searches were conducted on the online portals of journal publications such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information / NCBI (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Google Scholar (scholar.google.com). Transmission of STIs can occur due to interactions between agents (disease-causing factors), hosts (humans as hosts), and the environment (environmental factors). The increase in the incidence of STIs is influenced by several factors, including demographic changes such as very high population growth, increased community movements due to work or tourism, advances in IT-based technology (Technology Information) and socio-economic improvements.

Sexual Consent Across Diverse Behaviors and Contexts: Gender Differences and Nonconsensual Sexual Experiences

Sexual consent refers to people’s internal willingness to engage in sexual activity with another person—as well as their external communication of that willingness. Internal and external sexual consent can vary by type of sexual behavior; however, previous research on sexual consent has primarily only assessed “typical” sexual behaviors such as genital touching, oral sex, and vaginal–penile sex without providing further context or acknowledging people’s sexual diversity. Therefore, we provided an initial account of people’s sexual consent—and lack thereof—for a broader array of sexual behaviors and contexts in which they occur. Using an online cross-sectional survey of participants in the United Kingdom and the United States ( N = 658, 50.5% women), we examined event-level internal and external sexual consent for 20 sexual behaviors or contexts. Women reported significantly lower levels of sexual consent feelings than men for 12 of the 20 sexual behaviors and lower levels of active consent communication for 7 of them. Almost a third of participants (31.0%) had experienced at least one of the listed sexual behaviors against their will. Of those, participants on average reported nonconsensual experiences with 3.1 of the 20 types of sexual behavior listed, ranging from 1 to 11. More women reported at least one nonconsensual experience with one of the sexual behaviors assessed compared with men (47.9% versus 22.3%, respectively). We discussed several behavior-specific findings regarding sexual consent and the lack thereof. We also made recommendations for initiatives aimed at promoting healthy sexual consent practices: embrace sexual diversity, emphasize sexual agency, and encourage active consent communication.

Feminist Identity and Sexual Behavior: The Intimate is Political

Feminism is understood to be not only about equality for women as a group, but also about personal choices in a gender-unequal world. In this paper, I examine whether feminist identity is associated with solo and partnered sexual behavior. Using an original, representative survey of adult Canadian women (N=1,126), I employ ordinal logistic and logistic regression analyses to assess the relationship between feminist identity and sexual behavior. I find that those who call themselves feminists report having more recently masturbated than non-feminist women. In addition, I find that in partnered sexual encounters, feminists are more likely to participate in anal play, as well as engage in more kissing, cuddling and massage than non-feminists. I also find that feminist women are more likely to receive oral sex than non-feminists. These findings contribute to our understanding of feminist identity as tied to women’s personal lives, extending this association to the realm of sexual activity. In this case, the political is not only personal, it is intimate as well. Claiming a feminist identity is aligned with an approach to sexuality that includes a wider array of intimate and sexual behaviors that center women’s sexual and emotional needs in partnered encounters.

Awareness on Risk Factors of Oropharyngeal Cancer and Practice of Oral Sex among Students in Kinshasa City: A Pilot Study

Aims: The present study aimed to estimate the occurrence of oral sex to prevent HPV-associated or opharyngeal cancer. Study design: A prospective cohort study was conducted among the students in the Institut de Technique Medical de Kinshasa (ISTM-KIN), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Place and Duration of Study: Participants were enrolled from March 2019 through April of the same year in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kinshasa City. Methodology: Eligibility criteria included both men and women aged 15 to 45 years, enrolled in an educational program, and accepted voluntarily to respondent the survey. Demographic data, history of sexual behavior, initiation times, and knowledge about risk factors of oropharyngeal cancer were evaluated. Differences between groups of sexual behavior were tested by chi-square tests and ANOVA test at significant level of 5%. Results: Out of 1,196 participants, 412 (34.4%) were males and 784 (65.6%) females with an average (±SD) age of 20±2.4 years. A total of 964 respondents reported a history of sexually behavior (81%), of that, 53.1% had performed oral sex, 35.4% had vaginal sex and11.5% had practiced sodomy. Oral sex was the first sexual activity practiced with a significant difference among sexual behavior (P= .003). The respondents knew that oral sex is a risk factor for OPC (51.5%; n=616). Conclusion: Oral sex is the first sexual activity performed by students of Kinshasa Nursing School. Therefore, the education program to avoid the risk of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers may be necessary.

506Mathematical modelling of the transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in men who have sex with men

Background There is controversy about what sexual practices or secretions (e.g. saliva) transmit Neisseria gonorrhoeae in men who have sex with men (MSM). To date, no studies have modelled potential transmission when one sexual practice follows another in the same sexual encounter or the role of sexual secretions in transmission. Methods We developed eight compartmental models to examine three additional transmission routes: (1) oral sex followed by anal sex (or vice versa); (2) using saliva as a lubricant for penile-anal sex, and (3) oral sex followed by oral-anal sex (rimming) or vice versa. For comparison, we used a baseline model that did not include any of these three transmission routes. The seven other models added one of the additional transmission routes or combinations of the three of them to the baseline model. Results The baseline model could replicate infection at the single anatomical site but underestimated infection at more than one anatomical site (‘multi-site infection’). When we added the three transmission routes to the baseline model, oral sex followed by anal sex or vice versa could replicate the prevalence of multi-site infection. The other two transmission routes alone or together could not replicate multi-site infection without the inclusion of oral sex followed by anal sex. Conclusions Our model suggests sexual practices that involve oral followed by anal sex (or vice versa) may be important for explaining the high proportion of multi-site infection. Key messages For Neisseria gonorrhoeae transmission, additional transmission routes are necessary to replicate multi-site infection.