Sexually Transmitted Infections & Sexual Behavior of Deploying Shipboard US Military Personnel

OBJECTIVES:

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence and risk behaviour may differ at different phases of deployment. We examined STI prevalence and sexual behaviour in the predeployment time period (12 months prior) among recently deployed shipboard US Navy and Marine Corps military personnel.

METHODS:

Data were collected from 1938 male and 515 female service members through an anonymous, self-completed survey assessing sexual behaviours and STI acquisition characteristics in the past 12 months. Cross-sectional sex-stratified descriptive statistics are reported.

RESULTS:

Overall, 67% (n=1262/1896) reported last sex with a military beneficiary (spouse, n=931, non-spouse service member, n=331). Among those with a sexual partner outside their primary partnership, 24% (n=90/373) reported using a condom the last time they had sex and 30% (n=72/243) reported their outside partner was a service member. In total, 90% (n=210/233) reported acquiring their most recent STI in the USA (88%, n=126/143 among those reporting ≥1 deployments and an STI ≥1 year ago) and a significantly higher proportion (p<0.01) of women than men acquired the STI from their regular partner (54% vs 21%) and/or a service member (50% vs 26%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Findings suggest a complex sexual network among service members and military beneficiaries. Findings may extend to other mobile civilian and military populations. Data suggest most STI transmission within the shipboard community may occur in local versus foreign ports but analyses from later time points in deployment are needed. These data may inform more effective STI prevention interventions.

Purchase full article at:  http://goo.gl/TG8GQF

By:  Harbertson J1, Scott PT2, Moore J3, Wolf M3, Morris J3, Thrasher S3, D'Onofrio M2, Grillo MP4, Jacobs MB4, Tran BR4, Tian J5, Ito SI4, McAnany J4, Michael N2,Hale BR6.

• 1US Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, USA.
• 2US Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
• 3Third Fleet, US Navy, San Diego, California, USA.
• 4Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, USA.
• 5US Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
• 6Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, USA Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA. 

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight

And:        http://twitter.com/Prison_Health

Military Sexual Trauma among Recent Veterans: Correlates of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment

Military sexual trauma (MST) includes sexual harassment or sexual assault that occurs during military service and is of increasing public health concern. The population prevalence of MST among female and male veterans who served during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) has not been estimated to our knowledge. The purpose of this study is to assess the population prevalence and identify military correlates of MST, sexual harassment, and sexual assault among OEF/OIF veterans.

MST was assessed in the 2009-2011 National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans, a survey of 60,000 veterans who served during the OEF/OIF eras (response rate, 34%, n=20,563). Weighted prevalence estimates and AORs of MST, sexual harassment, and sexual assault among women and men were calculated. Gender-stratified logistic regression models controlled for military and demographic characteristics. Data analyses were conducted in 2013-2014.

Approximately 41% of women and 4% of men reported experiencing MST. Deployed men had lower risk for MST compared with non-deployed men, though no difference was found among women. 

However, veterans reporting combat exposure during deployment had increased risk for MST compared with those without, while controlling for OEF/OIF deployment. 

Among women, Marines and Navy veterans had increased risk for MST compared with Air Force veterans. MST was significantly higher among veterans who reported using Veterans Affairs healthcare services.

These prevalence estimates underscore the importance of public awareness and continued investigation of the public health impact of MST.

Via: http://ht.ly/Sa28i 

By: Barth SK1, Kimerling RE2, Pavao J2, McCutcheon SJ3, Batten SV4, Dursa E5, Peterson MR5, Schneiderman AI5.

• 1Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Public Health, Post Deployment Health, Epidemiology Program, Washington, District of Columbia. Electronic address: shannon.barth@va.gov.
• 2Department of Veterans Affairs, VHA Mental Health Services and National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California.
• 3Department of Veterans Affairs, VHA Mental Health Services, Washington, District of Columbia.
• 4Booz Allen Hamilton, Washington, District of Columbia.
• 5Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Public Health, Post Deployment Health, Epidemiology Program, Washington, District of Columbia.

New Diagnoses of HIV Infection by Gender, Active Component, U.S. Navy, January 2010–June 2015

Read more at:  http://ow.ly/d/3EC1 HT https://twitter.com/NCBI