       Document 0098
 DOCN  M95A0098
 TI    Estimating the sexual mixing patterns in the general population from
       those in people acquiring gonorrhoea infection: theoretical foundation
       and empirical findings.
 DT    9510
 AU    Renton A; Whitaker L; Ison C; Wadsworth J; Harris JR; Academic
       Department of Public Health, St Mary's Hospital, London.
 SO    J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995 Apr;49(2):205-13. Unique Identifier :
       AIDSLINE MED/95318677
 AB    STUDY OBJECTIVES--To describe mathematically the relationship between
       patterns of sexual mixing in the general population and those of people
       with gonorrhoea infection, and hence to estimate the sexual mixing
       matrix for the general population. DESIGN--Integration of data
       describing sexual behaviour in the general population, with data
       describing sexual behaviour and mixing among individuals infected with
       gonorrhoea. Use of these data in a simple mathematical model of the
       transmission dynamics of gonorrhoea infection. SETTING--The general
       population of London and a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic in west
       London. PARTICIPANT--These comprised 1520 men and women living in London
       who were randomly selected for the national survey of sexual attitudes
       and lifestyles and 2414 heterosexual men and women who presented to the
       GUM clinic with gonorrhoea. MAIN RESULTS--The relationship between
       sexual mixing among people with gonorrhoea and sexual mixing in the
       general population is derived mathematically. An empirical estimate of
       the sexual mixing matrix for the general population is presented. The
       results provide tentative evidence that individuals with high rates of
       acquisition of sexual partners preferentially select other individuals
       with high rates as partners (assortative mixing). CONCLUSIONS--Reliable
       estimates of sexual mixing have been shown to be important for
       understanding the evolution of the epidemics of HIV infection and other
       sexually transmitted diseases. The possibility of estimating patterns of
       sexual mixing in the general population from information routinely
       collected in gonorrhoea contact tracing programmes is demonstrated.
       Furthermore, the approach we describe could, in principle, be used to
       estimate the same patterns of mixing, using contact tracing data for
       other sexually transmitted diseases, thus providing a way of validating
       our results.
 DE    Adolescence  Adult  Contact Tracing  Female
       Gonorrhea/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION  Human  London/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Male
       Middle Age  Models, Statistical  Population Surveillance  Random
       Allocation  Sensitivity and Specificity  *Sexual Partners  JOURNAL
       ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

