Condom use: the discrepancy between practice and behavioral expectations.

Aim: The overall aim of this paper is to examine sexually active young people's behavioral expectations of condom use.

Methods: We collected data at nine youth clinics and one sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic in Sweden. We included participants whom had been sexually active during the past 12 months: A total of 1022 participants between the ages of 15 and 31 were included.

Identification of potential opinion leaders in child health promotion in Sweden using network analysis.

Background: Opinion leaders are often local individuals with high credibility who can influence other people. Robust effects using opinion leaders in diffusing innovations have been shown in several randomized controlled trials, for example regarding sexually transmitted infections (STI), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention, mammography rates and caesarean birth delivery rates. In a Cochrane review 2010 it was concluded that the use of opinion leaders can successfully promote evidence-based practice.

A characterization of internet dating network structures among nordic men who have sex with men.

Background: The Internet has become an important venue for seeking sexual partners and may facilitate transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

Methods: We examined a 64-day data log of flirt messages expressing sexual interest among MSM within the Qruiser.com community.

Modelling sexually transmitted infections: the effect of partnership activity and number of partners on R0.

We model a sexually transmitted infection in a network population where individuals have different numbers of partners, separated into steady and casual partnerships, where the risk of transmission is higher in steady partnerships. An individual's number of partners of the two types defines its degree, and the degrees in the community specify the degree distribution. For this structured network population a simple model for disease transmission is defined and the basic reproduction number R0 is derived, R0 being a size-biased (i.

Spatial bridges and the spread of Chlamydia: the case of a county in Sweden.

Objectives: The so-called small-world effect can have a great impact on efforts to control the incidence and prevalence of sexually transmitted infections. This is because a small number of so-called spatial bridgers (individuals who, through sexual contacts, interconnect geographically distant areas) can drastically lower the average path length in the sexual network and, as a result, make locally based intervention programs much less effective. The objectives of this study were to analyze the sociodemographic characteristics of these bridgers and to compare the result with the remaining study population.

Number of sexual encounters involving intercourse and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

Objective: To investigate the impact of the number of sexual encounters involving intercourse in combination with the number of sexual partners on the transmission dynamics of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Study: A statistical model is used for predicting the basic reproductive rate, R(0), which takes both the number of sexual partners and the number of sexual encounters involving intercourse per partner into consideration. The model is then applied to Swedish survey data that includes data on the number of partners over the course of 1 year, as well as the number of encounters per partner during this time.