 |
|
Lesbians' Sexual History With Men
Implications for Taking a Sexual History
Allison L. Diamant, MD, MSHS;
Mark A. Schuster, MD, PhD;
Kimberly McGuigan, PhD;
Janet Lever, PhD
Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:2730-2736.
Background Health care providers may not solicit a comprehensive sexual history from lesbian patients because of provider assumptions that lesbians have not been sexually active with men. We performed this study to assess whether women who identify themselves as lesbians have a history of sexual activities with men that have implications for receipt of preventive health screening.
Objective To convey the importance for health care providers to know their patients' sexual history when making appropriate recommendations for preventive health care.
Methods A survey was printed in a national news magazine aimed at homosexual men, lesbians, and bisexual men and women. The sample included 6935 self-identified lesbians from all 50 US states. The outcomes we measured were respondents' number of lifetime male sexual partners and partners during the past year, their lifetime history of specific sexual activities (eg, vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse), their lifetime condom use, and their lifetime history of sexually transmitted diseases.
Results Of respondents, 77.3% had 1 or more lifetime male sexual partners, 70.5% had a lifetime history of vaginal intercourse, 17.2% had a lifetime history of anal intercourse, and 17.2% had a lifetime history of a sexually transmitted disease. Exactly 5.7% reported having had a male sexual partner during the past year.
Conclusion These findings reinforce the need for providers to know their patients' sexual history regardless of their reported sexual orientation, especially with regard to recommendations for Papanicolaou smears and screening for sexually transmitted diseases.
From the Departments of Medicine (Dr Diamant) and Pediatrics (Dr Schuster), School of Medicine, and the Department of Health Services (Dr Schuster), University of California, Los Angeles; RAND, Santa Monica, Calif (Drs Schuster, McGuigan, and Lever); and California State University, Los Angeles (Dr Lever).
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
|
Sexual and Gender Minority Health: What We Know and What Needs to Be Done
Mayer et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2008;98:989-995.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Dimensions of Sexual Orientation and HIV-Related Risk Among Adolescent Females: Evidence From a Statewide Survey
Goodenow et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2008;98:1051-1058.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Women Who Report Having Sex With Women: British National Probability Data on Prevalence, Sexual Behaviors, and Health Outcomes
Mercer et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2007;97:1126-1133.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Brain response to putative pheromones in lesbian women
Berglund et al.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006;103:8269-8274.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
HIV Treatment in African Americans: Challenges and Opportunities
Cargill et al.
Journal of Black Psychology 2004;30:24-39.
ABSTRACT
Sexual behaviour of lesbians and bisexual women
Bailey et al.
Sex. Transm. Infect. 2003;79:147-150.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Beyond Assumptions of Negligible Risk: Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Women Who Have Sex With Women
Bauer and Welles
Am. J. Public Health 2001;91:1282-1286.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Update in Women's Health
Walsh et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2000;133:808-814.
FULL TEXT
Health Behaviors, Health Status, and Access to and Use of Health Care: A Population-Based Study of Lesbian, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Women
Diamant et al.
Arch Fam Med 2000;9:1043-1051.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Sexually transmitted infections in women who have sex with women: who cares?
Marrazzo
Sex. Transm. Infect. 2000;76:330-332.
FULL TEXT
|
