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Sexual Behaviour and Prevalence of HIV Antibodies in Transsexuals
Author(s) -
Chew Stephen,
Tham K. F.,
Ratnam S. S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0756.1997.tb00802.x
Subject(s) - medicine , male to female , anal intercourse , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , sexual intercourse , female to male , sexual behavior , gynecology , clinical psychology , family medicine , men who have sex with men , syphilis , retrospective cohort study , surgery , population , environmental health
Objective : To present data on the social characteristics, sexual behaviour and prevalence of HIV antibodies in 277 transsexuals. Material and Methods : One hundred fifty‐four male and 123 female transsexuals requesting surgical gender reassignment at the National University Hospital, Singapore were interviewed using a standard questionnaire. Blood samples were also taken at booking and prior to surgery and tested for HIV antibodies using a commercial enzyme immunoassay. Results : The mean ages of the male and female transsexuals were 26.3 and 28.3 years respectively. The majority of the transsexuals were Singaporean Chinese and had at least a secondary school education. None of the female and 14 (9%) of the male transsexuals were engaged in prostitution. Significantly more female (48%) than male (10.4%) transsexuals were sexually inactive. The sexual behaviour and practices of the transsexuals are also discussed. Conclusions : Significantly more male transsexuals compared to the female transsexuals, were sexually active, had earlier sexual contact, engaged more often in anal intercourse, and had 7 or more sexual partners. However, none of our transsexuals were positive for HIV antibodies.