Sexual Partnership Patterns in Malawi: Implications for HIV/STI Transmission

• DOI: 10.1097/olq.0b013e31820cb223
• Publication Date: 2011-02-08T06:19:13Z
• Authors: Kimberly A. Powers; Irving F. Hoffman; Azra C. Ghani; Mina C. Hosseinipour; Christopher D. Pi...; Matthew A. Price; Audrey E. Pettifor; David A. Chilongozi; Francis E. A. Mar...; Myron S. Cohen; William C. Miller
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Malawi; Time Factors; Adolescent; Sexual Behavior; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; HIV Infections; 3. Good health; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Risk-Taking; Sexual Partners; 0302 clinical medicine; Surveys and Questionnaires; HIV-1; Humans; Female

Concurrent sexual partnerships are believed to play an important role in HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, but the contributions of concurrency to HIV and STI spread depend on the details of infectious periods and relationship patterns. To contribute to the understanding of sexual partnership patterns in this region, we estimated partnership lengths, temporal gaps between partners, and periods of overlap across partners at an STI clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi.