Table 1

Comparison of sexual health (GUM) clinic attenders and non-attenders in the past year, among those (16–74 years) classified as having had unsafe sex (past year), by sex

MenWomen
AttendersNon-attendersaOR for non-attendance*95% CIp Value†AttendersNon-attendersaOR for non-attendance*95% CIp Value†
Denominators (unwt, wt)146, 110856, 877267, 149986, 666
Sociodemographic factors
 Age at interview<0.0001<0.0001
  16–2464.4%23.6% 1.0062.4%26.6%1.00
(54.7% to 73.0%)(20.9% to 26.6%)(55.3% to 69.1%)(23.8% to 29.6%)
  25–3420.5%21.4%2.84(1.76  to 4.58)23.1%24.6%2.49(1.71 to 3.63)
(14.5% to 28.3%)(18.6% to 24.5%)(17.7% to 29.6%)(21.7% to 27.7%)
  35–447.9%18.0%6.23(2.31 to 16.82)10.1%21.0%4.86(2.51 to 9.42)
(3.2% to 18.1%)(14.8% to 21.7%)(5.7% to 17.5%)(17.9% to 24.5%)
  45+7.2%37.0%13.95(5.92 to 32.85)4.3%27.8%15.22(6.64 to 34.87)
(3.3% to 15.2%)(33.2% to 41.0%)(2.0% to 9.1%)(24.3% to 31.7%)
 Relationship status0.38640.0082
  Married or civil partnership3.7%27.8%3.68(0.63 to 21.50)5.1%22.0%2.23(0.88 to 5.60)
(0.7% to 17.7%)(24.0% to 31.9%)(2.3% to 11.0%)(18.6% to 25.8%)
  Living with partner of opposite or same sex15.8%14.4%1.07(0.58 to 1.97)7.3%16.3%2.64(1.31 to 5.33)
(9.9% to 24.3%)(12.0% to 17.3%)(4.0% to 12.9%)(13.7% to 19.2%)
  In a ‘steady’ ongoing relationship but not living together29.0%24.0%1.27(0.82 to 1.97)40.4%25.5%0.89(0.63 to 1.27)
(21.8% to 37.3%)(21.2% to 27.1%)(33.9% to 47.2%)(22.6% to 28.6%)
  Not in ‘steady’ relationship51.5%33.8%1.0047.2%36.2%1.00
(42.4% to 60.5%)(30.3% to 37.4%)(40.1% to 54.4%)(32.8% to 39.8%)
 Academic qualifications0.64240.0001
  No academic qualifications11.9%22.6%0.98(0.50 to 1.91)6.2%19.6%2.62(1.32 to 5.19)
(7.4% to 18.7%)(19.3% to 26.3%)(3.5% to 11.0%)(16.6% to 23.0%)
  Academic qualifications typically gained at age 16 years39.1%36.1%0.81(0.50 to 1.30)23.0%38.9%2.09(1.43 to 3.07)
(30.7% to 48.1%)(32.5% to 40.0%)(17.8% to 29.3%)(35.3% to 42.7%)
  Studying for or have attained further academic qualifications49.0%41.2%1.0070.7%41.4%1.00
(39.7% to 58.4%)(37.3% to 45.2%)(63.8% to 76.8%)(37.7% to 45.3%)
 Quintile of Index of Multiple Deprivation§0.2190.0028
  1–2 (least deprived)36.9%34.4%0.78(0.50 to 1.24)39.7%32.8%0.74(0.50 to 1.12)
(28.5% to 46.2%)(30.6% to 38.3%)(32.0% to 47.9%)(29.2% to 36.6%)
  314.9%18.3%1.29(0.76 to 2.19)11.6%21.2%1.77(1.14 to 2.73)
(9.9% to 21.7%)(15.4% to 21.7%)(8.3% to 16.1%)(18.2% to 24.6%)
  4–5 (most deprived)48.2%47.3%1.0048.7%46.0%1.00
(39.4% to 57.2%)(43.3% to 51.4%)(41.0% to 56.5%)(42.1% to 49.9%)
Sexual behaviours
 Had first heterosexual intercourse before
 16 years¶
0.11680.191
  No51.1%63.8%1.0055.2%70.4%1.00
(42.1% to 60.2%)(60.1% to 67.4%)(48.1% to 62.2%)(67.1% to 73.6%)
  Yes48.9%36.2%0.73(0.49 to 1.08)44.8%29.6%0.80(0.57 to 1.12)
(39.8% to 57.9%)(32.6% to 39.9%)(37.8% to 51.9%)(26.4% to 32.9%)
 Number of sexual partners, past year**<0.0001<0.0001
  122.9%38.4%1.0020.3%49.3%1.00
(16.0% to 31.7%)(34.7% to 42.2%)(15.3% to 26.5%)(45.6% to 52.9%)
  212.4%29.9%1.43(0.73 to 2.77)26.9%25.8%0.45(0.29 to 0.72)
(7.8% to 19.2%)(26.4% to 33.7%)(20.8% to 33.9%)(22.7% to 29.3%)
  3–431.9%19.6%0.41(0.23 to 0.74)31.7%15.4%0.30(0.19 to 0.46)
(23.7% to 41.4%)(16.6% to 22.8%)(25.8% to 38.1%)(13.1% to 18.0%)
  5+32.7%12.1%0.25(0.14 to 0.44)21.2%9.5%0.31(0.18 to 0.54)
(24.8% to 41.7%)(9.9% to 14.8%)(15.7% to 28.0%)(7.5% to 11.9%)
 Concurrency, past year0.0891<0.0001
  No61.9%67.1%1.0058.1%78.4%1.00
(52.1% to 70.8%)(62.8% to 71.1%)(50.3% to 65.6%)(74.9% to 81.5%)
  Yes38.1%32.9%0.67(0.42 to 1.06)41.9%21.6%0.43(0.29 to 0.64)
(29.2% to 47.9%)(28.9% to 37.2%)(34.4% to 49.7%)(18.5% to 25.1%)
 At least one partnership with age gap of at least 5 years, past year0.00490.256
  No55.8%45.1%1.0055.2%48.6%1.00
(46.2% to 64.9%)(41.2% to 49.1%)(48.2% to 62.0%)(45.0% to 52.3%)
  Yes44.2%54.9%0.53(0.34 to 0.83)44.8%51.4%0.82(0.58 to 1.15)
(35.1% to 53.8%)(50.9% to 58.8%)(38.0% to 51.8%)(47.7% to 55.0%)
 Used the internet to find a sexual partner, past year0.00010.0659
  No72.7%84.9%1.0087.6%90.9%1.00
(64.6% to 79.5%)(81.9% to 87.5%)(80.4% to 92.4%)(88.8% to 92.7%)
  Yes27.3%15.1%0.39(0.25 to 0.62)12.4%9.1%0.52(0.26 to 1.04)
(20.5% to 35.4%)(12.5% to 18.1%)(7.6% to 19.6%)(7.3% to 11.2%)
 Anal sex with opposite sex partner, past year0.24360.0053
  No67.4%75.3%1.0066.9%81.2%1.00
(58.8% to 75.0%)(71.8% to 78.5%)(60.2% to 73.0%)(78.2% to 83.8%)
  Yes32.6%24.7%0.78(0.52 to 1.18)33.1%18.8%0.59(0.41 to 0.85)
(25.0% to 41.2%)(21.5% to 28.2%)(27.0% to 39.8%)(16.2% to 21.8%)
 Had 1+ same sex partner, past year
  No93.3%96.4%91.6%97.2%
(86.9% to 96.7%)(94.6% to 97.7%)(85.3% to 95.4%)(95.9% to 98.1%)
  Yes6.7%3.6%††8.4%2.8%††
(3.3% to 13.1%)(2.3% to 5.4%)(4.6% to 14.7%)(1.9% to 4.1%)
 Had 1+ partner who normally lives outside the UK, past 5 years0.03710.0426
  No69.7%81.0%1.0083.2%90.2%1.00
(60.0% to 77.9%)(77.7% to 84.0%)(76.6% to 88.3%)(88.0% to 92.1%)
  Yes30.3%19.0%0.59(0.35 to 0.97)16.8%9.8%0.57(0.33 to 0.98)
(22.1% to 40.0%)(16.0% to 22.3%)(11.7% to 23.4%)(7.9% to 12.0%)
 STI risk perception0.00620.0048
  Not at all at risk29.7%48.2%1.0037.5%57.9%1.00
(21.4% to 39.6%)(44.2% to 52.1%)(30.5% to 45.1%)(54.2% to 61.5%)
  Not very much46.6%42.3%0.80(0.48 to 1.31)44.7%33.9%0.65(0.44 to 0.95)
(37.5% to 55.9%)(38.6% to 46.1%)(37.2% to 52.3%)(30.5% to 37.5%)
  Greatly/Quite a lot at risk23.7%9.5%0.41(0.23 to 0.73)17.9%8.2%0.43(0.25 to 0.74)
(17.0% to 32.0%)(7.6% to 11.8%)(12.2% to 25.3%)(6.4% to 10.3%)
Among 16–44 year olds denominators (unwt, wt)139, 102621, 553260, 142811, 481
 Reported testing for Chlamydia, past year
  No10.3%81.3%13.9%61.0%
(6.3% to 16.4%)(77.7% to 84.4%)(9.4% to 20.1%)(57.0% to 64.8%)
  Yes89.7%18.7%86.1%39.0%
(83.6% to 93.7%)(15.6% to 22.3%)(79.9% to 90.6%)(35.2% to 43.0%)
  • *Age-adjusted ORs, adjusting for age as a continous variable.

  • †pValues for wald test for association between each variable and non-attendance after adjustment for age

  • ‡Participants aged ≥17 years.

  • §Index of Multiple Deprivation is an area-level measure of deprivation [ref Payne & Abel].33

  • ¶First heterosexual sex age 13+.

  • **Opposite and/or same-sex partners.

  • ††ORs not presented due to cell sizes<30.

  • GUM, genitourinary medicine.