Variations in the prevalence of reported number and types of sexual partners, by ethnic group and gender
| Men | P for ethnic difference among men | Women | P for ethnic difference among women | P for gender differences | ||||
| Black Caribbean | White British/Irish | Black Caribbean | White British/Irish | Among BC attendees | Among WBI attendees | |||
| Denominator (participants)* | 182 | 426 | 390 | 792 | ||||
| Sociodemographics | ||||||||
| Age (median, IQR) | 27 (22–33) | 27 (24–31) | 26 (22–31) | 25 (21–30) | ||||
| 15–19 | 11.0% | 4.9% | 0.098 | 12.8% | 10.1% | 0.327 | 0.318 | 0.009 |
| 20–24 | 25.8% | 23.9% | 32.8% | 36.9% | ||||
| 25–34 | 42.3% | 54.2% | 37.4% | 40.5% | ||||
| 35–44 | 11.0% | 12.0% | 10.3% | 8.3% | ||||
| 45+ | 9.9% | 4.9% | 6.7% | 4.2% | ||||
| Education above GCSEs, or equivalent† | 65.9% | 82.2% | 0.010 | 78.8% | 84.8% | 0.015 | 0.001 | 0.081 |
| In employment | 71.7% | 84.0% | 0.004 | 71.1% | 71.3% | 0.946 | 0.850 | 0.001 |
| Current partnership(s) status | 0.044 | 0.167 | <0.001 | 0.009 | ||||
| Committed sexual partnership(s) only | 33.5% | 38.6% | 52.3% | 50.1% | ||||
| Casual sexual partnership(s) only | 41.5% | 38.6% | 31.1% | 28.9% | ||||
| Both committed and casual sexual partnerships | 7.4% | 2.6% | 1.8% | 1.8% | ||||
| No current sexual partnership | 17.6% | 20.1% | 14.8% | 19.2% | ||||
| Sexual partners, past year | ||||||||
| Partners, n | 0.160 | 0.002 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| 1 | 16.1% | 25.4% | 51.0% | 42.3% | ||||
| 2 | 23.0% | 15.9% | 24.2% | 19.3% | ||||
| 3–4 | 23.6% | 26.1% | 17.6% | 23.0% | ||||
| 5–9 | 24.7% | 21.2% | 6.1% | 12.6% | ||||
| 10+ | 12.6% | 11.5% | 1.1% | 2.8% | ||||
| New partners, n | 0.053 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| 0 | 8.9% | 3.2% | 14.6% | 4.8% | ||||
| 1 | 34.9% | 36.7% | 64.9% | 53.7% | ||||
| 2+ | 56.2% | 60.1% | 20.5% | 41.5% | ||||
| Overlapping (concurrent) partnerships,‡ among those reporting two or more partners in the past year | 0.023 | 0.176 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Denominator (participants)§ | 145 | 310 | 192 | 453 | ||||
| No | 33.1% | 43.5% | 55.2% | 58.7% | ||||
| Yes | 57.2% | 50.6% | 41.7% | 39.7% | ||||
| Don't remember | 9.7% | 5.8% | 3.1% | 1.5% | ||||
| Sexual partners, past3months, n | 0.029 | 0.039 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| 0 | 7.3% | 8.8% | 11.3% | 6.9% | ||||
| 1 | 32.6% | 43.4% | 66.5% | 63.6% | ||||
| 2 | 28.1% | 23.6% | 15.0% | 17.8% | ||||
| 3 | 15.2% | 12.9% | 4.0% | 5.5% | ||||
| 4+ | 16.9% | 11.2% | 3.2% | 6.3% | ||||
*Denominators: participants (SHC attendees) identifying as male, and who reported only female partners in the past year, and participants identifying as female who reported only male partners in the past year. For categorical outcome variables, Pearson χ2 tests were used to calculate p values.
†GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education, exams typically taken by age 16 in England.
‡From a direct question about overlapping partnerships.
§Among participants reporting two or more sexual partners within the past year.
BC, Black Caribbean; SHC, sexual health clinic; WBI, White British/Irish.