Office of Population Research, Center for Health and Wellbeing, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
J Sex Med. 2012 May;9(5):1382-91. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02686.x. Epub 2012 Mar 16.
Sexuality is a component of health and well-being for all women, including adolescents. Yet relationships between young women's health perceptions and sexual behavior are unclear.
We examined associations between perceived health and lifetime sexual experiences among young U.S. women.
We used data from 4,413 young women ages 15-24 years in the National Survey of Family Growth, 2002-2008. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics estimated relationships between categories of perceived health and types of lifetime sexual experience.
A self-rated health Likert item and sexual history questions were administered with a computer-assisted survey instrument.
Young women reported excellent (30%), very good (41%), good (23%), and fair-poor (6%) health. Sexual experiences included vaginal (64%), oral (64%), and anal (20%) sex. Negative experiences included involuntary sex (11%) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) history (8%). In multivariate logistic regression models, lower perceived health ("good" rather than "excellent") was positively associated with vaginal (odds ratio [OR] 1.5, confidence interval [CI] 1.1-2.1, P = 0.02), oral (OR 1.5, CI 1.1-2.1, P = 0.005), and anal (OR 1.4, CI 1.0-2.0, P = 0.03) sex. In models stratified by age, point estimates for vaginal (OR 1.8, CI 1.2-2.6, P = 0.002) and oral (OR 1.9, CI 1.4-2.6, P < 0.001) sex were higher among adolescents ages 15-19 years, but associations were insignificant among young adults ages 20-24 years. When controlling for negative sexual experiences, point estimates were stable in models including STI history but statistically insignificant when including involuntary sexual experience. Other characteristics associated with sexual experiences varied by type of experience and included age, race/ethnicity, employment situation, poverty level, insurance status, childhood family situation, religious service participation, cohabitation/marital experience, and body mass index.
Further investigation is warranted to disentangle potentially negative relationships between perceived health (as well as response bias and more objective health outcomes), sociodemographic factors, and diverse sexual experiences among young women in the United States.
性是所有女性（包括青少年）健康和幸福的一个组成部分。然而，年轻女性的健康感知与性行为之间的关系尚不清楚。
我们研究了美国年轻女性的健康感知与终生性经历之间的关系。
我们使用了 2002-2008 年全国家庭增长调查中 4413 名 15-24 岁的年轻女性的数据。使用描述性、双变量和多变量统计方法，估计了健康感知类别与各种终生性经历之间的关系。
自我评估健康李克特量表条目和性史问题通过计算机辅助调查工具进行评估。
年轻女性报告了优秀（30%）、很好（41%）、好（23%）和一般差（6%）的健康状况。性经历包括阴道交（64%）、口交（64%）和肛交（20%）。负面经历包括非自愿性行为（11%）和性传播感染（STI）病史（8%）。在多变量逻辑回归模型中，较低的健康感知（“好”而不是“优秀”）与阴道交（比值比[OR]1.5，置信区间[CI]1.1-2.1，P=0.02）、口交（OR 1.5，CI 1.1-2.1，P=0.005）和肛交（OR 1.4，CI 1.0-2.0，P=0.03）呈正相关。在按年龄分层的模型中，15-19 岁青少年阴道交（OR 1.8，CI 1.2-2.6，P=0.002）和口交（OR 1.9，CI 1.4-2.6，P<0.001）的点估计值较高，但在 20-24 岁的年轻成年人中，相关性不显著。当控制负面性经历时，包括 STI 病史的模型中的点估计值是稳定的，但包括非自愿性性经历的模型中的点估计值则不显著。与性经历相关的其他特征因经历类型而异，包括年龄、种族/民族、就业状况、贫困水平、保险状况、童年家庭状况、宗教服务参与度、同居/婚姻经历以及体重指数。
需要进一步研究，以厘清美国年轻女性健康感知（以及反应偏差和更客观的健康结果）、社会人口因素与各种性经历之间潜在的负面关系。
