Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105309

Gerry E. Hendershot, PhD, Consultant on Disability and Health Statistics, 4437 Wells Parkway, University Park, MD 20782, 301-927-1120, ghendershot@earthlink.net and Mitchell Tepper, PhD, MPH, The Sexual Health Network, 3 Mayflower Lane, Shelton, CT 06484.

The National Survey of Family Growth is a large, periodic, population-based interview survey on factors related to reproduction among community-dwelling women and men aged 15-44 years. The 2002-2003 NSFG included, for the first time, questions to identify people with disabilities, providing the first opportunity to estimate reliable national statistics for the population with disabilities on a wide range of behaviors related to reproduction, including cohabitation, marriage, intercourse, contraception, sterilization, sex education, and parenting. Preliminary analyses show that people with disabilities are significantly more likely than persons without disabilities to initiate sexual activity at an early age, to have had a relatively large number of sexual partners, and to be sterile (unable to conceive). While the NSFG data are limited in some ways (for instance, they do not include the institutional population and do not identify specific types of disability), they suggest that, overall, men and women with disabilities have sexual and reproductive experiences that are significantly different from those of persons without disabilities. Those differences should be considered in public health programs related to sexual activity and reproduction.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to

• Describe the major features of the National Survey of Family Growth relevant to statistics on persons with disabilities.
• Identify at least three significant differences in patterns of sexual behavior and reproduction between persons with and without disabilities.
• List at least three implications of those differences for delivering sexuality and reproductive services to persons with disabilities.

Keywords: Disability, Sexual Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation