Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Population Division, New York, USA.
J Biosoc Sci. 2020 Nov;52(6):860-884. doi: 10.1017/S002193201900083X. Epub 2019 Dec 18.
This paper presents an analysis of trends in sexual activity by marital status and age, and their associations with contraceptive use. Understanding levels of, and trends in, sexual activity is important for assessing the needs for family planning services and for analysing commonly used family planning indicators. Data were taken from 220 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) and 62 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICSs) to provide insights into sexual activity by marital status and age in a total of 94 countries in different regions of the world. The results show the sensitivity of the indicator with respect to the definition of currently sexually active, based on the timing of last sexual intercourse (during the last 4 weeks, 3 months, or 1 year). Substantial diversity in sexual activity by marital status and age was demonstrated across countries. The proportion of married women reporting recent sexual activity (sexual intercourse during the last 4 weeks) ranged from 50% to 90%. The proportion of unmarried women reporting recent sexual activity did not exceed 50% in any of the 94 countries with available data, but showed substantial regional differences: it appeared to be rare in Asia and extremely varied within Africa, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Among married women, sexual activity did not vary much by age group, while for unmarried women, there was an inverted U-pattern by age, with the youngest age group (15-19 years old) having the lowest proportion sexually active. The proportion of women who reported currently using contraception and reported not being sexually active varied by the contraceptive method used and was overall much greater among unmarried women. The evidence presented in this paper can be used to improve family planning policies and programmes to serve the diverse needs, for example regarding method choice and service provision, of unmarried women.
本文分析了婚姻状况和年龄对性行为趋势的影响，并探讨了它们与避孕措施使用之间的关系。了解性行为的水平和趋势对于评估计划生育服务的需求以及分析常用的计划生育指标都很重要。本研究的数据来自于 220 次人口与健康调查（DHS）和 62 次多指标类集调查（MICS），共涉及来自世界不同地区的 94 个国家，为我们提供了关于婚姻状况和年龄对性行为影响的深入了解。结果表明，根据最近一次性行为的时间（过去 4 周、3 个月或 1 年），当前活跃的性行为指标对定义非常敏感。不同国家在婚姻状况和年龄对性行为的影响方面存在显著差异。报告最近有性行为（过去 4 周内有过性行为）的已婚妇女比例在 50%至 90%之间。在有数据可查的 94 个国家中，报告最近有性行为的未婚妇女比例均未超过 50%，但存在显著的地区差异：在亚洲地区，这种情况很少见，而在非洲、欧洲和拉丁美洲及加勒比地区则差异极大。在已婚妇女中，不同年龄组的性行为差异不大，而在未婚妇女中，随着年龄的增长，性行为呈倒 U 型分布，年龄最小的组（15-19 岁）的性行为比例最低。报告目前使用避孕措施但没有性行为的妇女比例因所使用的避孕方法而异，在未婚妇女中总体要大得多。本文提供的证据可用于改进计划生育政策和方案，以满足不同人群的需求，例如未婚妇女在方法选择和服务提供方面的需求。
