S. Elshibly et al., SEXUAL RISK BEHAVIOR IN WOMEN CARRIERS OF MYCOPLASMA-HOMINIS, British journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, 103(11), 1996, pp. 1124-1128
Objective To study the sexual behaviour of women harbouring Mycoplasma
hominis in the vagina. Setting Two family planning clinics and a yout
h clinic for contraceptive advice. Methods The vaginal flora of 996 wo
men were investigated microbiologically, including culturing for M. ho
minis from the posterior vaginal fornix. Cultures and tests were also
made to diagnose genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections, gonorrhoea,
genital herpes, cervical human papillomavirus infection, trichomonias
is, genital warts and human immunodeficiency virus, The sexual behavio
ur of these women was investigated by structured in-depth personal int
erviews. Results Of the 996 women, 123 (12.3%) harboured M. hominis in
the vagina. The remainder (87.7%), who had a negative M. hominis cult
ure, served as a reference group. Those with M. hominis were significa
ntly more likely to have had more than 10 partners during their lifeti
me, had a greater frequency of more than one sexual partner during the
preceding month and the last six months, and reported more frequent e
xperience of 'casual sex', including casual 'travel sex'. More of them
also had experience of group sex and were more likely to have been se
xually abused than the women in the reference group. Fewer women with
M. hominis had a current steady partner and were less often cohabiters
, but more had had sexual intercourse during the previous week than th
ose in the reference group. There was an association between the occur
rence of M. hominis and bacterial vaginosis and genital chlamydial inf
ection. Adjustment in multifactorial regression analyses therefore cha
nged the results only marginally. Conclusions Women with M. hominis ha
ve almost the same sexual risk behaviour as women with classic sexuall
y transmitted diseases.