Editor,—While it is comforting that some research is finally being carried out in depth on the risk of STIs among women who have sex with women (WSW),¹ any conclusions drawn from this study for WSW in general need to be handled with a great deal of caution when one looks at the make up of the subjects and controls.

For example, over twice as many of the WSW as the control group were current sex workers; 38% of the WSW had had a previous termination of pregnancy; nearly six times as many of the WSW had a history of injecting drug use.

The researchers themselves say their “clinic population … may not be representative of the WSW in the general community.” This is an understatement—and any reporting of this study must make very clear statements about the dangers of inappropriate conclusions about STIs among women who have sex with women generally.