Concurrent sexual partnerships among African Americans in the rural south.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate concurrent sexual partnerships among heterosexual African Americans, 18 to 59 years old, in rural North Carolina.


METHODS
Household interviews with persons randomly selected from the NC driver's license file were conducted to identify overlap among the 3 most recent sexual partnerships.


RESULTS
Concurrency prevalence in the past 5 years was 53% (men) and 31% (women). Most (61%) respondents believed that a recent partner had had a concurrent partnership. Multivariate analysis revealed strong associations between concurrency and male gender, being unmarried, age of sexual debut, and incarceration of a sex partner.


CONCLUSIONS
Concurrent partnerships may increase rates of heterosexual HIV among blacks in the rural Southeastern United States. Future research should examine the context that supports this network pattern.
Adimora
Adaora A
AA
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7030, USA. adimora@med.unc.edu
Schoenbach
Victor J
VJ
Martinson
Francis
F
Donaldson
Kathryn H
KH
Stancil
Tonya R
TR
Fullilove
Robert E
RE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis