Table 3.
Characteristics of 419 Dyads in Sexual Network
| Number (%) of Dyads or Median | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics* | Traceable Partner (n=266) | Untraceable Partner (n=153) | P-value† |
| Age difference between partner and client‡ | |||
| Median | 3 | 4 | 0.13 |
| Range | −28 to 32 | −4 to 17 | |
| Interquartile range | −1 to 7 | 1 to 9 | |
| Type of sexual behavior | |||
| Oral | 21 (10.3) | 5 (5.4) | 0.19 |
| Anal | 55 (27.0) | 39 (41.9) | 0.01 |
| Vaginal | 14 (6.9) | 5 (5.4) | 0.80 |
| Oral and anal | 114 (55.9) | 39 (41.9) | 0.03 |
| Oral and vaginal | 0 | 5 (5.4) | |
| Frequency of sexual encounters | |||
| One time only | 82 (40.1) | 80 (80.8) | <0.001 |
| 2–5 times | 48 (33.8) | 12 (12.1) | <0.001 |
| More than 5 times | 37 (26.1) | 7 (7.1) | <0.001 |
| Condom utilization | |||
| Never | 59 (43.7) | 12 (26.7) | 0.04 |
| Inconsistent | 53 (39.3) | 25 (55.6) | 0.06 |
| Always | 23 (17.8) | 8 (17.8) | 0.91 |
| How partners met | |||
| Online | 69 (40.6) | 31 (52.5) | 0.05 |
| At school or work | 18 (10.6) | 16 (27.1) | 0.002 |
| Through friend or roommate | 22 (12.9) | 3 (5.1) | 0.10 |
| Unknown/couldn’t recall | 24 (14.1) | 2 (3.4) | 0.03 |
| Bar or club | 18 (10.6) | 1 (1.7) | 0.03 |
| Non-sexual physical venue | 8 (4.7) | 4 (6.8) | 0.54 |
| Sex venue | 5 (2.9) | 2 (3.4) | 1.0 |
| Phone chat line | 4 (2.4) | 0 | |
| At church | 2 (1.2) | 0 | |
*
A total of 419 dyads were examined in this study. The number of respondents with data for each item varied, reflected in column totals for each characteristic.
†
Wilcoxon rank-sum testing was used to compare medians. Indicator (dummy) variables were used with Pearson’s χ2 test to calculate P-values for individual categories.
‡
Positive numbers indicate that sex partners were older than the client, and negative numbers show that the client was older than the sex partner. For dyads with traceable partners, n=211; for those with untraceable partners, n=43.