Bakilana Anne
Afr J AIDS Res. 2005 May;4(1):1-5. doi: 10.2989/16085900509490335.
It is important to understand the age at which sexual relations start in designing HIV prevention strategies. Most studies on age of sexual activity of young people provide estimated percentages of those that are sexually active in specific age groups, and tend either to not provide data for age at sexual debut, or to overlook the complexities of analysing data concerning sexual debut. This study considers the rate of entry into sexual relations in South Africa by providing the median age of women at time of first sexual relations as well as other percentiles, and analyses the hypothesis that age at sexual debut has been falling. The analysis uses data from the 1998 South African Demographic and Health Survey, including a nationally representative sample of 11 735 women, aged 15 to 49, interviewed in 1998. The analysis uses life-table techniques and multivariate analysis. About 8% of the respondents had had sex by age 15. The median age at time of first sex was approximately 18 years, and virtually all the women had had sex by age 23. There is evidence that the peak of the rate of entry into sexual relations occurs at age 18 and that younger cohorts of women are entering sexual relations at a younger age. The rate of entry into sexual relations is 14% to 20% faster for the younger cohorts, based on information given by the older respondents concerning their own behaviour at the same age. Age of entry into sexual relations of the women who participated in this study is compared to findings of demographic and health surveys in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and rates of entry into marriage are also presented. The lag between entry into sexual relations and rate of entry into marriage is compared across countries. It appears that, whereas South Africans tend to enter into sexual relations later than Tanzanian counterparts and more or less at the same stage as Zimbabweans, their rates of entry into marriage are hugely delayed. The consequences for HIV infection control are discussed.
在设计艾滋病预防策略时，了解开始性行为的年龄很重要。大多数关于年轻人性活动年龄的研究提供了特定年龄组中有性活动者的估计百分比，要么没有提供首次性行为年龄的数据，要么忽视了分析首次性行为相关数据的复杂性。本研究通过提供南非女性首次性行为时的中位年龄以及其他百分位数来考量进入性关系的比率，并分析首次性行为年龄一直在下降这一假设。该分析使用了1998年南非人口与健康调查的数据，包括1998年对11735名年龄在15至49岁之间具有全国代表性的女性进行访谈的数据。分析采用了生命表技术和多变量分析。约8%的受访者在15岁前有过性行为。首次性行为的中位年龄约为18岁，几乎所有女性在23岁前都有过性行为。有证据表明进入性关系比率的峰值出现在18岁，且较年轻的女性群体开始性行为的年龄更小。根据年长受访者提供的她们在同一年龄时的自身行为信息，较年轻群体进入性关系的比率要快14%至20%。将参与本研究的女性进入性关系的年龄与坦桑尼亚和津巴布韦的人口与健康调查结果进行比较，并呈现结婚率。比较了不同国家在进入性关系和结婚率之间的时间间隔。似乎南非人开始性行为的时间比坦桑尼亚人晚，与津巴布韦人差不多处于同一阶段，但他们的结婚率却大幅延迟。文中还讨论了这对艾滋病感染控制的影响。
