From the Department of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sex Transm Dis. 2024 Jan 1;51(1):72-80. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001888. Epub 2023 Oct 25.
Social and sexual distancing (ie, abstaining from sex with persons outside one's household) was important in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compliance to distancing measures can change over time. We assessed changes in compliance to the sexual distancing measures during five periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.
Between November 2021 and March 2022, we used a structured questionnaire containing questions about sexual behavior and factors that could have influenced compliance with sexual distancing. Variables related to sexual behavior were measured for 5 periods, before and during the pandemic, delineated by imposement and relaxation of lockdown measures.
Eight hundred seventy participants (predominantly MSM) completed the questionnaire. We found that compliance to the sexual distancing measures decreased over time. The number of casual partners was highest after the lockdown measures were relaxed for the second time (April 2021 to March 2022), and even higher than before the first lockdown. Factors positively associated with sexual distancing compliance were: having confidence in the information provided by the government and experiencing less or similar need for physical contact compared with before the pandemic. Factors that lowered compliance over time were: previously having had COVID-19, perceiving the lockdown measures as overstated, having sex with casual partners and similar drug use during the pandemic as before.
Our findings suggest that sexual distancing measures are difficult to maintain for a long period. Other measures, such as confinement to a small network of known partners, might be more effective for longer pandemics in minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.
社会和性隔离（即避免与家庭以外的人发生性关系）对于控制 COVID-19 大流行非常重要。随着时间的推移，对隔离措施的遵守情况可能会发生变化。我们评估了在荷兰 COVID-19 大流行的五个阶段期间，对性隔离措施的遵守情况的变化。
在 2021 年 11 月至 2022 年 3 月期间，我们使用了一份包含性行为和可能影响性隔离措施遵守情况的因素的结构化问卷。在大流行之前和期间，通过实施和放宽封锁措施来划分 5 个时间段，测量与性行为相关的变量。
870 名参与者（主要是男男性接触者）完成了问卷。我们发现，随着时间的推移，对性隔离措施的遵守情况逐渐下降。在第二次放宽封锁措施后（2021 年 4 月至 2022 年 3 月），偶然伴侣的数量最高，甚至高于第一次封锁之前。与性隔离措施遵守情况呈正相关的因素是：对政府提供的信息有信心，与大流行前相比，体验到的身体接触需求较少或相似。随着时间的推移降低遵守情况的因素是：以前感染过 COVID-19、认为封锁措施被夸大、与偶然伴侣发生性关系以及在大流行期间与以前相同的药物使用。
我们的研究结果表明，性隔离措施难以长期维持。在更长时间的大流行中，其他措施，如限制在一个由已知伴侣组成的小网络中，可能更有效地减少传染病的传播。
