Unconventional sexual behaviors and their associations with physical, mental and sexual health parameters: a study in 18 large Brazilian cities.
OBJECTIVE
There have been many studies investigating paraphilias and sexual compulsion, but thus far little data about prevalence of unusual sexual practices that are subthreshold for these diagnoses. The associations between unconventional sexual behavior and sociodemographic and health parameters were investigated.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study of 7,022 individuals (45.4% of women) was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire that compared individuals carrying at least one reference of unconventional sexual behavior (group 1) with individuals without such reference (group 2).


RESULTS
Women's mean age was 35.0 vs. 35.9 years (p < 0.05) and men's mean age was 36.5 vs. 37.8 years (p < 0.05) being lower in group 1 than in group 2, respectively. More men (52.3%) than women (30.4%) (p < 0.001) presented unconventional sexual behavior. Fetishism (13.4%) and voyeuristic behavior (13.0%) were more frequent. Unconventional sexual behavior was associated with male gender, single or separated marital status, black or mulatto race, elementary and high school educational level, history of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment, alcohol dependence, emergency contraception, difficulty at the beginning of sexual life, sexual violence, bisexuality, and performance of anal or oral intercourse.


CONCLUSIONS
Unconventional sexual behaviors are important because they are associated with poorer health status and lower educational levels.
Oliveira Júnior
Waldemar Mendes de
WM
Institute of Psychiatry, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. oliveirajrwald@uol.com.br
Abdo
Carmita Helena Najjar
CH
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007179:Incest / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010262:Paraphilic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires