Fichtenberg Caroline M, Muth Stephen Q, Brown Beth, Padian Nancy S, Glass Thomas A, Ellen Jonathan M
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Sex Transm Dis. 2009 Jan;36(1):41-8. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e3181860711.
Sexual networks play an important role in the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. However, because of the challenges of collecting network data, relatively few empirical reports exist about the structure of sexual networks in general population samples. This study describes the structure of the sexual networks of a household sample of urban black adolescents living in an area with moderate endemic STI rates.
Random digit dialing was used to recruit a household sample of black adolescents from the Bayview-Hunter's Point neighborhood of San Francisco. Participants' recent partners and partners of partners were recruited through snowball sampling. Biologic samples were tested for current infection with gonorrhea or chlamydia. Social network analysis methods were used to describe the characteristics of the resulting sexual networks.
One hundred and sixty-six sexually active participants were connected to 388 network members in 159 separate sexual network components. Despite relatively high prevalence of bacterial STIs (13%), components were small (3.5 people on average, and half involved only 2 people), linear and acyclic. Females were less central in their networks than males by local measures but just as central when overall structure was taken into account.
Our results confirm, in a new setting, previous observations that sexual network structures necessary for endemic transmission of gonorrhea and chlamydia are sparsely connected.
性网络在性传播感染（STIs）和艾滋病毒的传播中起着重要作用。然而，由于收集网络数据存在挑战，关于一般人群样本中性网络结构的实证报告相对较少。本研究描述了生活在性传播感染中度流行地区的城市黑人青少年家庭样本的性网络结构。
采用随机数字拨号法从旧金山湾景 - 猎人角社区招募黑人青少年家庭样本。通过滚雪球抽样招募参与者最近的性伴和性伴的性伴。对生物样本进行淋病或衣原体当前感染检测。使用社会网络分析方法描述所得性网络的特征。
166名性活跃参与者与159个独立的性网络组件中的388名网络成员相连。尽管细菌性传播感染的患病率相对较高（13%），但组件规模较小（平均3.5人，一半仅涉及2人），呈线性且无环。从局部测量来看，女性在其网络中的中心性低于男性，但考虑整体结构时，女性的中心性与男性相当。
我们的结果在新的环境中证实了先前的观察结果，即淋病和衣原体地方性传播所需的性网络结构连接稀疏。
