Sexual behavior in humans

BACKGROUND: The HIV-1 molecular network is an innovative tool, using gene sequences to understand transmission attributes and complementing social and sexual network studies. While previous research focused on static network characteristics, recent studies' emphasis on dynamic features enhances our understanding of real-time changes, offering insights for targeted interventions and efficient allocation of public health resources. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify the dynamic changes occurring in HIV-1 molecular transmission networks and analyze the primary influencing factors driving the dynamics of HIV-1 molecular networks...

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition defines gender identity disorder (GID) as a strong and persistent identification with the opposite sex and the distress that may accompany the incongruence between one's experienced or expressed gender and one's assigned gender. The onset of GID commonly begins early in childhood. Gender dysphoria has a higher prevalence of other comorbid psychiatric illnesses, such as mood, anxiety, and adjustment disorders, with increased suicide incidence and self-harming behaviors than the general population...

BACKGROUND: Postpartum contraception is essential to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care because it encourages healthy spacing between births, helps women avoid unwanted pregnancies, and lessens the risks of health problems for mothers and babies. Sub-Saharan African immigrant and refugee populations are rapidly increasing in the United States, and they come from a wide range of cultural, linguistic, religious, and social origins, which may pose challenges in timely access to culturally acceptable SRH care, for preventing mistimed or unwanted childbearing...

BACKGROUND: Infectious disease is an important health problem in border areas as there is a possibility that the migrants may carry the disease into the area. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and behaviors toward human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer in the women of reproductive age in the Thailand-Myanmar border area. METHODS: A survey study in a population of 418 women of reproductive age in Mae Hong Son Province in the Thailand-Myanmar border area...

BACKGROUND: The prevention of cervical cancer can be achieved by treating high-grade cervical precancerous lesions. Treatment options for cervical precancer include excisional procedures, and ablation treatments. Despite the long pre-invasive course of the disease, literature addressing sexual function post-treatment for cervical pre-invasive lesions is scarce. This study aims to bridge this gap and assess the sexual function and the acceptability, efficacy, safety, and complications of loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) versus thermal ablation...

Puppy play is a kink activity, in which people dress as, take on the role of, and mimic the physical and emotional behaviours of young canines or pups. We explore how the pup identity, depicted in cellphilms by queer men who are part of the pup community, influences men's body image perceptions using multimodal critical discourse analysis. Participants expressed feelings of dissonance, shame, and self-rejection when viewing themselves as humans, but conveyed excitement, pleasure, and self-celebration when viewing themselves as pups...

Children who experience sexual abuse often face severe challenges in seeking help and disclosing their traumatic experiences. Objectives - to investigate critical aspects of information transfer, help-seeking behavior and the long-term psychological impact of child sexual abuse. This was a pilot study done on 114 victims of child sexual abuse. The study participants filled a semi-structured proforma through social media using Google forms. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 28...

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors of sexual satisfaction in patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using baseline survey data from a randomized controlled trial in six European countries. Patients with advanced cancer and their family caregiver completed measures on sexual satisfaction (one item from Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General questionnaire for patients and Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer scale for family caregivers) and health-related characteristics...

BACKGROUND: HIV self-testing (HIVST) was recommended to improve HIV testing services. China initiated some of the first HIVST pilots in the world, providing a unique opportunity for implementation research. We aim to investigate HIVST adoption and its following linkage to care among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS: Data were collected using an online questionnaire distributed on major social media platforms in 2018, one year after HIVST was officially endorsed and allowed for sale...

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) causes over 1 million deaths annually. Providing effective treatment is a key strategy for reducing TB deaths. In this study, we identified factors associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes among individuals treated for TB in Brazil. METHODS: We obtained data on individuals treated for TB between 2015 and 2018 from Brazil's National Disease Notification System (SINAN). We excluded patients with a history of prior TB disease or with diagnosed TB drug resistance...

Primate faces provide information about a range of variant and invariant traits, including some that are relevant for mate choice. For example, faces of males may convey information about their health or genetic quality through symmetry or facial masculinity. Because perceiving and processing such information may have bearing on the reproductive success of an individual, cognitive systems are expected to be sensitive to facial cues of mate quality. However, few studies have investigated this topic in non-human primate species...

BACKGROUND: Observational studies suggest that voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) may lower HIV risk among men who have sex with men (MSM). A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is needed to confirm this. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of VMMC in preventing incident HIV infection among MSM. DESIGN: An RCT with up to 12 months of follow-up. (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000039436). SETTING: 8 cities in China...

Background Launched in 2016 by Prevention Access Campaign, the 'Undetectable=Untransmittable' (U=U) campaign empowers people living with HIV to live full social, sexual and reproductive lives, dismantle stigma, promote increased treatment access, and advocate for updated HIV guidelines. Methods Key priorities for promoting improvements to community-centred, evidence-informed U=U policy and research were the focus of a half-day global roundtable held in 2023 alongside the 12th International AIDS Society Conference in Brisbane, Australia...

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective tool for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention. The purpose of this study is to identify correlates of PrEP retention using patient data from an urban, publicly funded safety-net clinic in Washington, DC. Cox proportional hazards regression, logistical regression, and survival curves were used to assess the association of age, gender, race/ethnicity, insurance, number of partners, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis at PrEP initiation with time on PrEP...

With the emergence of an early psychiatry around 1800, a number of questions arose on dealing with a group of persons whose "alien", irritating and disruptive behavior was considered to be a phenomenon of being sick. In the context of the growing importance of human rights, the term humanitarianism attained a high relevance as the reference for early psychiatrists. Based on historical sources it is shown that despite a multitude of psychiatric beliefs on humanitarianism the established psychiatric practice was dominated by patriarchal order regimes up to the first decade of the twentieth century, later superimposed by the challenges of somatophysiological and experimental research as well as perceptions of biological racism...

INTRODUCTION: Rokitansky syndrome or Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser (SRKMH) is a rare congenital malformation defined by uterovaginal aplasia. The aim of the treatment is to create a neovagina and restore sexual life. However, postoperative results in terms of sexual and overall quality of life of patients remain controversial. AIM: To evaluate the quality of life and sexuality of patients operated on for Rokitansky syndrome. METHODS: This was a retrospective and comparative study between two groups of patients...

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been an increasing use of sex-related substances (known as "Chemsex") to facilitate, intensify, and prolong the sexual experience of men who have sex with men. This phenomenon poses a public health problem, increasing the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and mental disorders. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to delve into the correlation between substance use and sexual health, specifically examining the association between different substances used and the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the context of Chemsex in Spain...

BACKGROUND: Sexual development is a complex process of understanding oneself as a sexual being. Youth with spinal cord injury (SCI) navigate the typical phases of sexual development along with the physical and psychological sequelae of an SCI. As youth with SCI progress from adolescence to emerging adulthood, sexual activity-physical intimacy and sexual intercourse-is an important milestone. OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to (1) describe frequency of physical intimacy among adults with pediatric-onset SCI and (2) identify injury, demographic, and lifestyle factors that predict frequency of physical intimacy...

BACKGROUND: Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in males with spinal cord injury (SCI) and has been recognized to be a key recovery priority. OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional, mixed-methods study aimed to investigate the major themes linked to sexual functioning in males with chronic (>1 year) SCI. METHODS: Twenty male participants with SCI, aged 25 to 59 years, completed validated questionnaires exploring sexual function/satisfaction and health-related quality of life and a semi-structured interview with an experienced sexual medicine physician...

INTRODUCTION: epidemiological estimates from the 2021 Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) emphasize the existing gender disparities, where women face a higher risk of HIV/AIDS exposure. In Mozambique, as of 2021, the HIV prevalence rate among the adult population stood at 12.5%, with an even more concerning rate of 15.4% among women of reproductive age. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was carried out with secondary data from the Survey on National Indicators of Vaccination, Malaria, and HIV/AIDS (IMASIDA 2015), where we included married women, both civil marriage and common law marriage of reproductive age 15-49 years...