A Case Control Study of Women With Multiple Sexual Partners

May 14, 2017 updated by: Dr. Christina Muzny, University of Alabama at Birmingham

A Case Control Study of Women With Multiple Sexual Partners Attending the Jefferson County Department of Health Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic

Both population based surveys and more focused research studies indicate that increased numbers of sexual partners and partner concurrency contribute to increased risk for acquisition of sexually transmitted infection (STI), including HIV infection. However, unlike for men, both national and sub-population-based studies consistently find that the great majority of women with or without STIs report only 1-2 sex partners in the preceding year and that a minority of women acknowledge > 3 sex partners over the same period, suggesting that this relatively small proportion of women with higher numbers of sex partners play a disproportionate role in sustaining community STI rates. Despite these observations, surprisingly little is known about women with increased numbers of sexual partners, the factors which contribute to increased partner number, and the potential for those factors to be intervened upon to reduce risk for STI. The implications of these facts for STI/HIV prevention efforts are profound. For instance, interventions that include the implication that target audiences have multiple sex partners might be dismissed as irrelevant by those with single partners. Conversely, interventions targeting women with multiple sex partners may be based on assumptions derived from data which, while representative of the general target audience, may not reflect relevant circumstances for the subset of women with higher numbers of partners.

This study will begin to generate data that will provide critical information on this topic and help inform future development of STI/HIV interventions tailored to womens' individual circumstances and contexts. The investigators hypothesize that women with 4 or more sexual partners during the past year will report higher rates of depression and substance abuse (alcohol and drugs), higher rates of intimate partner violence, less social support, more non-vaginal sex, more same-sex contacts, and higher rates of STIs than women reporting only one sexual partner during the past year.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Detailed Description

The objectives of this protocol are: (1) To delineate factors that are important modifiable predictors of sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk in the context of increased numbers of sexual partners, comparing those participants with one sexual partner to those with 4 or more sexual partners during the past year. (2) To define the prevalence of infection with Chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, syphilis, genital herpes, and HIV in women reporting one sexual partner in the past year compared to women reporting 4 or more sexual partners during the past year.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

213

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35233
        • Jefferson County Department of Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Women presenting to the Jefferson County Department of Health Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • female,
  • age 16 years or older,
  • report of either one sexual partner during the past year or 4 or more sexual partners in the past year,
  • able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Drug and/or alcohol intoxication at the time of enrollment,
  • exhibition of any type of disruptive or unsafe behavior that would not be conducive to participating in this study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Cases
Women with 4 or more sexual partners during the past year
Controls
Women with only one sexual partner during the past year

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
STI diagnosis
Time Frame: Day of enrollment
Day of enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Sexual risk behaviors
Time Frame: Up to 3 months prior to enrollment
Up to 3 months prior to enrollment
Substance use (alcohol and drugs)
Time Frame: Up to 30 days prior to enrollment
Up to 30 days prior to enrollment
History of intimate partner violence
Time Frame: At any time prior to enrollment
At any time prior to enrollment
Depression
Time Frame: Up to 7 days prior to enrollment
Up to 7 days prior to enrollment
Social support
Time Frame: Up to 30 days prior to enrollment
Up to 30 days prior to enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 4, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 13, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

April 17, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 16, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 14, 2017

Last Verified

May 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • High Risk Women

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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