title: Sexual partners, penetrative sexual partners and HIV risk.
abstract: This paper argues that the notion of sexual partners per se is insufficient for estimating levels of HIV risk behaviour or changes in HIV risk over time, even though it is a crucial element of most epidemiological models of HIV. The concept of a penetrative sexual partner (PSP) is introduced as a considerably more accurate measure of HIV risk. Using data from a longitudinal study of 930 homosexually active men in England and Wales, this paper demonstrates that variation in numbers of PSPs (and thus HIV risk) is not related to variation in the gross numbers of sexual partners.
authors.affiliation: Project SIGMA, Department of Social Sciences, South Bank Polytechnic, London, UK.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Weatherburn
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Coxon
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: McManus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology