RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Methodology of the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3)
JF Sexually Transmitted Infections
JO Sex Transm Infect
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 84
OP 89
DO 10.1136/sextrans-2013-051359
VO 90
IS 2
A1 Erens, Bob
A1 Phelps, Andrew
A1 Clifton, Soazig
A1 Mercer, Catherine H
A1 Tanton, Clare
A1 Hussey, David
A1 Sonnenberg, Pam
A1 Macdowall, Wendy
A1 Field, Nigel
A1 Datta, Jessica
A1 Mitchell, Kirstin
A1 Copas, Andrew J
A1 Wellings, Kaye
A1 Johnson, Anne M
YR 2014
UL http://sti.bmj.com/content/90/2/84.abstract
AB Background Data from the first two National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, carried out in 1990–1991 (Natsal-1) and 1999–2001 (Natsal-2), have been extensively used to inform sexual health policy in Britain over the past two decades. Natsal-3 was carried out from September 2010 to August 2012 in order to provide up-to-date measures of sexual lifestyles and to extend the scope of the previous studies by including an older age group (up to 74 years), an extended range of topics and biological measures. Methods We describe the methods used in Natsal-3, which surveyed the general population in Britain aged 16–74 years (with oversampling of younger adults aged 16–34 years). Results Overall, 15 162 interviews were completed, with a response rate of 57.7% and a cooperation rate of 65.8%. The response rate for the boost sample of ages 16–34 years was 64.8%, only marginally lower than the 65.4% achieved for Natsal-2, which surveyed a similar age range (16–44). The data were weighted by age, gender and region to reduce possible bias. Comparisons with census data show the weighted sample to provide good representation on a range of respondent characteristics. The interview involved a combination of face-to-face and self-completion components, both carried out on computer. Urine samples from 4550 sexually-experienced participants aged 16–44 years were tested for a range of STIs. Saliva samples from 4128 participants aged 18–74 years were tested for testosterone. Conclusions Natsal-3 provides a high quality dataset that can be used to examine trends in sexual attitudes and behaviours over the past 20 years.