Table 2.
Sexual partners, practices, behaviours, and attitudes reported by men in Natsal-3, by age group
| 16–24 years | 25–34 years | 35–44 years | 45–54 years | 55–64 years | 65–74 years | All age groups | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at first heterosexual intercourse* | |||||||||
| Age (years) | 16 (15–18) | 17 (15–19) | 17 (15–19) | 17 (15–18) | 18 (16–19) | 18 (16–21) | 17 (16–19) | .. | |
| Heterosexual intercourse before age 16 years | 30·9% (28·5–33·5%) | 25·5% (23·1–28·1%) | 26·6% (23·4–30·1%) | 26·7% (23·4–30·3%) | 17·3% (14·6–20·5%) | 15·4% (12·6–18·6%) | 24·4% (23·1–25·7%) | <0·0001 | |
| Female sexual partners | |||||||||
| Number of partners over the lifetime | <0·0001 | ||||||||
| 0 | 19·8% (17·8–22·0%) | 5·2% (4·0–6·7%) | 1·5% (0·8–2·9%) | 2·0% (1·2–3·3%) | 2·2% (1·4–3·4%) | 1·8% (0·9–3·4%) | 5·5% (5·0–6·1%) | .. | |
| 1 | 15·4% (13·7–17·2%) | 12·6% (10·7–14·8%) | 11·8% (9·4–14·6%) | 8·8% (6·7–11·4%) | 15·3% (12·4–18·8) | 22·9% (19·5–26·7%) | 13·7% (12·7–14·8%) | .. | |
| 2 | 11·8% (10·0–13·8%) | 6·7% (5·4–8·3%) | 5·7% (4·0–8·0%) | 7·2% (5·3–9·7%) | 9·3% (7·2–12·0%) | 11·2% (8·6–14·5%) | 8·4% (7·5–9·3%) | .. | |
| 3–4 | 15·7% (13·8–18·0%) | 14·3% (12·4–16·4%) | 12·4% (10·0–15·4) | 13·6% (11·1–16·4%) | 17·6% (14·6–21·1%) | 18·4% (15·2–22·0%) | 15·0% (13·9–16·1%) | .. | |
| 5–9 | 17·6% (15·7–19·8%) | 23·5% (21·2–26·0%) | 26·5% (23·2–30·0%) | 25·4% (22·1–29·0%) | 23·9% (20·7–27·5%) | 23·4% (19·8–27·4%) | 23·5% (22·3–24·8%) | .. | |
| ≥10 | 19·6% (17·6–21·8%) | 37·8% (35·1–40·6%) | 42·1% (38·5–45·9%) | 43·1% (39·4–46·9%) | 31·7% (28·1–35·5%) | 22·3% (19·0–26·0%) | 33·9% (32·6–35·4%) | .. | |
| Mean (SD) | 6·5 (13·3) | 13·7 (23·9) | 14·3 (24·2) | 17·5 (70·4) | 20·1 (149·2) | 12·1 (45) | 14·1 (69·6) | .. | |
| Median (IQR) | 3 (1–7) | 6 (3–15) | 8 (4–18) | 8 (4–20) | 5 (2–11) | 4 (2–8) | 6 (2–12) | .. | |
| Number of partners in past year | <0·0001 | ||||||||
| 0 | 24·1% (21·9–26·5%) | 9·9% (8·3–11·9%) | 7·5% (5·8–9·6%) | 13·6% (11·3–16·2%) | 23·7% (20·7–27·0%) | 40·2% (36·2–44·3%) | 17·9% (16·9–19·0%) | .. | |
| 1 | 42·2% (39·5–45·0%) | 71·0% (68·2–73·5%) | 81·8% (78·8–84·4%) | 76·0% (72·8–79·0%) | 68·3% (64·6–71·7%) | 56·3% (52·1–60·4%) | 67·1% (65·8–68·5%) | .. | |
| ≥2 | 33·7% (31·2–36·3%) | 19·1% (17·0–21·3%) | 10·7% (8·7–13·2%) | 10·4% (8·4–12·9%) | 8·1% (6·2–10·5%) | 3·5% (2·3–5·4%) | 14·9% (14·0–15·9%) | .. | |
| At least one new partner in past year | 46·0% (43·1–48·8%) | 26·3% (24·0–28·8%) | 13·2% (11·0–15·8%) | 12·3% (10·1–14·9%) | 10·4% (8·4–12·9%) | 5·0% (3·5–7·3%) | 19·7% (18·7–20·8%) | <0·0001 | |
| Sexual practices with female partners | |||||||||
| Number of occasions of sexual intercourse in past 4 weeks† | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 5·1 (7·2) | 5·4 (6·5) | 4·1 (4·3) | 4·1 (6·1) | 3·2 (4·5) | 2·3 (3·6) | 4·3 (5·7) | .. | |
| Median (IQR) | 3 (0–7) | 4 (1–8) | 3 (1–6) | 3 (1–6) | 2 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) | 3 (1–6) | .. | |
| Vaginal sex in past 4 weeks | 52·7% (50·0–55·3%) | 74·6% (72·1–76·9%) | 75·1% (71·8–78·3%) | 69·3% (65·7–72·7%) | 55·2% (51·3–59·1%) | 37·2% (33·1–41·5%) | 62·9% (61·5–64·4%) | <0·0001 | |
| Given or received oral sex in past year | 70·9% (68·4–73·3%) | 80·0% (77·6–82·2%) | 80·2% (77·0–83·0%) | 71·0% (67·2–74·5%) | 52·4% (48·4–56·4%) | 30·4% (26·5–34·6%) | 67·1% (65·7–68·5%) | <0·0001 | |
| Anal sex in past year | 18·5% (16·4–20·7%) | 17·6% (15·6–19·8%) | 15·1% (12·6–18·0%) | 13·8% (11·1–17·0%) | 7·6% (5·7–10·0%) | 2·9% (1·7–4·9%) | 13·4% (12·4–14·4%) | <0·0001 | |
| Genital contact without intercourse in past year | 71·3% (68·6–73·8%) | 75·8% (73·1–78·3%) | 73·1% (69·6–76·3%) | 66·0% (62·0–69·8%) | 56·2% (52·3–60·1%) | 36·8% (32·7–41·1%) | 65·4% (63·9–66·8%) | <0·0001 | |
| Masturbation | |||||||||
| Masturbated in past 4 weeks | 82·6% (80·5–84·5%) | 78·1% (75·6–80·3%) | 72·9% (69·1–76·3%) | 64·6% (60·6–68·4%) | 53·1% (49·0–57·1%) | 33·1% (29·2–37·3%) | 66·4% (64·9–67·8%) | <0·0001 | |
| Sexual practices with male partners | |||||||||
| Any sexual experience or contact with another man | 7·0% (5·7–8·5%) | 7·8% (6·4–9·4%) | 7·4% (5·5–9·8%) | 9·2% (7·3–11·6%) | 10·0% (8·0–12·4%) | 6·1% (4·4–8·4%) | 8·0% (7·2–8·9%) | 0·0754 | |
| Any sexual experience with genital contact with another man | 4·0% (3·1–5·2%) | 5·7% (4·6–7·1%) | 4·7% (3·3–6·6%) | 7·2% (5·5–9·3%) | 7·3% (5·6–9·5%) | 3·4% (2·3–5·1%) | 5·5% (4·9–6·2%) | 0·0016 | |
| At least one male sexual partner in past 5 years | 2·9% (2·1–3·9%) | 3·5% (2·6–4·7%) | 2·3% (1·4–3·7%) | 2·9% (1·9–4·3%) | 2·3% (1·3–3·8%) | 0·9% (0·4–2·0%) | 2·6% (2·1–3·0%) | 0·0598 | |
| Risk behaviours for HIV and sexually transmitted infections‡ | |||||||||
| Paid for sex§ in past 5 years | 2·7% (1·9–3·7%) | 5·4% (4·3–6·8%) | 3·9% (2·7–5·7%) | 3·6% (2·5–5·1%) | 3·6% (2·4–5·4%) | 1·2% (0·6–2·4%) | 3·6% (3·1–4·2%) | 0·0017 | |
| At least one new sexual partner from outside the UK in past 5 years | 13·2% (11·5–15·2%) | 14·5% (12·8–16·5%) | 7·5% (5·6–9·9%) | 4·5% (3·1–6·4%) | 3·7% (2·5–5·5%) | 1·3% (0·6–2·6%) | 7·9% (7·2–8·8%) | <0·0001 | |
| At least two sexual partners with whom no condom used in past year | 16·4% (14·5–18·4%) | 10·1% (8·6–11·9%) | 6·4% (4·9–8·5%) | 5·8% (4·3–7·8%) | 3·5% (2·4–5·1%) | 0·6% (0·2–1·7%) | 7·6% (6·9–8·3%) | <0·0001 | |
| Sexual attitudes | |||||||||
| Non-exclusivity in marriage: always wrong | 66·5% (63·8–69·1%) | 62·3% (59·4–65·1%) | 59·2% (55·4–62·8%) | 52·7% (48·7–56·7%) | 47·7% (43·7–51·8%) | 52·7% (48·4–56·9%) | 57·2% (55·7–58·7%) | <0·0001 | |
| One night stands: not wrong at all | 19·2% (17·0–21·5%) | 21·7% (19·4–24·1%) | 19·6% (16·6–22·9%) | 16·8% (14·0–20·1%) | 14·1% (11·7–16·8%) | 10·2% (8·0–13·1%) | 17·5% (16·3–18·7%) | <0·0001 | |
| Male same-sex partnerships: not wrong at all | 48·6% (45·7–51·4%) | 50·0% (47·0–52·9%) | 46·0% (42·2–49·8%) | 38·5% (34·8–42·4%) | 33·3% (29·6–37·2%) | 21·1% (17·9–24·8%) | 41·0% (39·5–42·4%) | <0·0001 | |
| Female same-sex partnerships: not wrong at all | 53·1% (50·3–56·0%) | 54·3% (51·3–57·3%) | 49·8% (46·0–53·7%) | 42·9% (39·1–46·8%) | 37·9% (34·1–41·9%) | 24·4% (20·9–28·2%) | 45·2% (43·8–46·7%) | <0·0001 | |
| Denominator | |||||||||
| Unweighted | 1729 | 1525 | 806 | 794 | 772 | 667 | 6293 | .. | |
| Weighted | 1238 | 1374 | 1425 | 1413 | 1197 | 860 | 7508 | .. | |
Data are median (IQR), % (95% CI), or mean (SD), unless otherwise stated. All estimates are weighted. All participants (denominators vary across variables because of item non-response). Vaginal sex is defined as a man's penis in a woman's vagina.21 Oral sex is defined as mouth on a partner's genital area.21 Anal sex is defined as a man's penis in a partner's anus.21
*
Not defined when asked in interview.
†
Sexual intercourse defined as vaginal, oral, or anal sex; in participants who had at least one female sexual partner in the past year.
‡
With a female or male sexual partner, or both.
§
Vaginal, oral, or anal sex.