Table 1. Sexual identity, attraction and behaviours by age group among men and women aged 16–74 years.
16–24 | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 | 55–64 | 65–74 | p-value (trend) | Total | ||||||||
Men | |||||||||||||||
Denominators (unweighted, weighted) | 1729 | 1238 | 1525 | 1374 | 806 | 1425 | 794 | 1413 | 772 | 1197 | 667 | 860 | 6293 | 7508 | |
Sexual Identitya | 0.012 | ||||||||||||||
Heterosexual/Straight | 96.7% | [95.6–97.6] | 96.5% | [95.3–97.3] | 97.7% | [95.9–98.7] | 96.7% | [95.1–97.7] | 96.8% | [95.4–97.8] | 99.0% | [97.8–99.6] | 97.1% | [96.6–97.6] | |
Gay/Lesbian | 1.5% | [1.0–2.3] | 2.4% | [1.7–3.4] | 1.3% | [0.7–2.6] | 1.8% | [1.1–2.8] | 1.3% | [0.7–2.1] | 0.2% | [0.0–0.8] | 1.5% | [1.2–1.9] | |
Bisexual | 1.5% | [1.0–2.3] | 0.7% | [0.4–1.2] | 0.9% | [0.3–2.8] | 1.2% | [0.7–2.3] | 1.3% | [0.7–2.4] | 0.5% | [0.2–1.4] | 1.0% | [0.8–1.4] | |
Other | 0.3% | [0.1–0.7] | 0.5% | [0.2–1.0] | 0.1% | [0.0–0.4] | 0.3% | [0.1–1.8] | 0.6% | [0.3–1.6] | 0.3% | [0.0–2.0] | 0.3% | [0.2–0.6] | |
Any same-sex attraction | 7.0% | [5.8–8.5] | 7.9% | [6.5–9.4] | 4.7% | [3.4–6.5] | 6.4% | [4.9–8.4] | 8.2% | [6.4–10.5] | 4.2% | [3.0–6.0] | 0.187 | 6.5% | [5.8–7.2] |
Same-sex experience but never with genital contactb | 3.0% | [2.2–4.1] | 1.9% | [1.3–2.9] | 2.6% | [1.5–4.5] | 2.0% | [1.2–3.4] | 2.5% | [1.6–4.0] | 2.1% | [1.2–3.7] | 0.508 | 2.4% | [1.9–2.9] |
Same-sex sex everb,c | 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] | 0.131 | 5.5% | [4.9–6.2] |
Opposite-sex sex everd | 86.3% | [84.3–88.0] | 95.6% | [94.1–96.7] | 98.9% | [97.7–99.5] | 98.5% | [97.4–99.1] | 98.5% | [97.5–99.1] | 98.7% | [97.4–99.3] | <0.001 | 96.1% | [95.5–96.5] |
Same- and opposite-sex sexe | 2.9% | [2.2–3.9] | 4.2% | [3.2–5.4] | 3.9% | [2.7–5.6] | 6.4% | [4.8–8.4] | 6.9% | [5.3–9.1] | 3.2% | [2.1–4.9] | 0.002 | 4.7% | [4.1–5.3] |
Same-sex sex in the past 5 yearsd | 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] | 0.003 | 2.6% | [2.1–3.0] |
16–24 | 25–34 | 35–44 | 45–54 | 55–64 | 65–74 | p-value (trend) | Total | ||||||||
Women | |||||||||||||||
Denominators (unweighted, weighted) | 2140 | 1207 | 2487 | 1380 | 1215 | 1455 | 1123 | 1443 | 1030 | 1235 | 874 | 935 | 8869 | 7654 | |
Sexual Identity | <0.001 | ||||||||||||||
Heterosexual/Straight | 95.0% | [93.7–96.0] | 96.6% | [95.8–97.2] | 96.8% | [95.6–97.7] | 97.4% | [96.3–98.2] | 99.1% | [98.2–99.5] | 99.4% | [98.6–99.7] | 97.3% | [96.9–97.6] | |
Gay/Lesbian | 0.9% | [0.5–1.4] | 1.2% | [0.8–1.8] | 1.5% | [0.9–2.4] | 1.1% | [0.7–1.9] | 0.8% | [0.4–1.7] | 0.1% | [0.0–0.6] | 1.0% | [0.8–1.2] | |
Bisexual | 3.5% | [2.7–4.5] | 2.0% | [1.5–2.7] | 1.4% | [0.8–2.2] | 1.0% | [0.5–1.9] | 0.0% | 0.00% | 0.3% | [0.1–1.0] | 1.4% | [1.2–1.7] | |
Other | 0.7% | [0.3–1.4] | 0.2% | [0.1–0.4] | 0.3% | [0.1–0.8] | 0.5% | [0.2–1.2] | 0.1% | [0.0–0.5] | 0.3% | [0.1–1.1] | 0.3% | [0.2–0.5] | |
Any same-sex attraction | 17.2% | [15.4–19.1] | 17.2% | [15.6–18.9] | 13.6% | [11.7–15.8] | 9.6% | [7.9–11.6] | 5.3% | [4.0–7.0] | 3.4% | [2.3–5.0] | <0.001 | 11.5% | [10.7–12.2] |
Same-sex experience but never with genital contactb | 11.3% | [9.8–13.0] | 9.3% | [7.9–10.8] | 4.0% | [3.0–5.4] | 2.2% | [1.5–3.2] | 3.0% | [2.1–4.3] | 1.4% | [0.8–2.6] | <0.001 | 5.3% | [4.8–5.8] |
Same-sex sex everb,c | 7.6% | [6.4–9.0] | 8.8% | [7.7–10.1] | 7.4% | [6.0–9.2] | 6.6% | [5.3–8.3] | 3.5% | [2.4–5.0] | 0.8% | [0.4–1.4] | <0.001 | 6.1% | [5.6–6.7] |
Opposite-sex sex everd | 85.4% | [83.5–87.0] | 98.2% | [97.5–98.8] | 99.8% | [99.4–99.9] | 99.5% | [99.0–99.7] | 99.2% | [98.6–99.5] | 99.3% | [98.7–99.7] | <0.001 | 97.0% | [96.7–97.4] |
Same- and opposite-sex sexe | 7.2% | [6.0–8.5] | 8.6% | [7.4–9.9] | 7.3% | [5.9–9.1] | 6.4% | [5.1–8.1] | 3.3% | [2.3–4.9] | 0.7% | [0.3–1.3] | <0.001 | 5.9% | [5.4–6.5] |
Same-sex sex in the past 5 yearsf | 6.2% | [5.1–7.4] | 4.7% | [3.9–5.6] | 3.5% | [2.6–4.9] | 2.7% | [1.9–3.8] | 1.0% | [0.5–2.1] | 0.1% | [0.0–0.5] | <0.001 | 3.2% | [2.8–3.6] |
a Estimates for sexual identity among women aged 16–24 years differ slightly from those published in Mercer et al. Lancet 2013;382:1781–94 due to error.
b Those reporting same-sex experience with genital contact (ever) may also have reported same-sex experience without genital contact but are not included in the same-sex experience but never with genital contact group.
c Same-sex experience with genital contact
d Opposite-sex experience with genital contact
e Same- and opposite-sex experience with genital contact
f 1+ same-sex partner in the past 5 years