title: Women's sexual behavior. Population-based study among 65,000 women from four Nordic countries before introduction of human papillomavirus vaccination.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sexual behavior is of public health interest because of the association with reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections such as human papillomavirus, which is the causal factor of cervical cancer. The aim of the study was to describe patterns in women's sexual behavior in four Nordic countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (November 2004-June 2005).
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample of 18-45-year-old women from the female population in the four participating Nordic countries. The participation rate ranged from 81.3% in Denmark to 54.5% in Iceland. In total, 65 623 women were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  Each participant completed a structured questionnaire containing questions about sociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors and sexual behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  Age-specific and country-specific descriptive measures of sexual behavior, notably age at first intercourse and lifetime number of partners. In addition, risk factors for having had multiple (>10) sexual partners were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, median age at first intercourse was 16, and 30.2% (95% CI: 29.9-30.6) of the participating women reported having had ≥10 partners. There was great variation with birth cohort but limited variation between countries. The main correlates of multiple sexual partners were increasing age at enrollment, a higher alcohol intake and young age at first intercourse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These measurements of sexual behavior before the introduction of national human papillomavirus vaccination programs will form the basis for a comparison with a similar survey performed after vaccination has been introduced.
authors.affiliation: Department of Viruses, Hormones and Cancer, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten Egebjerg
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Munk
authors.forename: Par
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sparen
authors.forename: Laufey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tryggvadottir
authors.forename: Kai-Li
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Liaw
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dasbach
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nygård
authors.forename: Susanne K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kjaer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D052685:Alphapapillomavirus; D003075:Coitus; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines