HIV Risk Behaviors of Female Adult Film Performers as Compared to Young California Women

Objective: To describe health risks and behaviors in female adult film performers and compare them to other young women.

Design: Cross-sectional structured online survey self-administered to a probability sample of current female adult film performers via the Internet; bivariate and multivariate analyses compared mental health in female adult performers to California Women's Health Survey respondents.

Participants: 134 female adult film performers (mean age 27.8 years, range 17-54) who had worked in the prior six months; 1,773 female respondents (mean age 31.3 years, range18 to 40) to the 2007 California Women's Health Survey.

Outcome Measures: Number of personal sexual partners, condom use, Chlamydia testing, prior 12 months.

Results: Adult film performers initiated sex at an average of 3 years younger and reported having 6.8 more personal sexual partners in the prior year than California women 18-44 years old. The majority of performers reported HIV and Chlamydia testing (94 and 82% respectively) in the prior 12 months. While they were more likely to use condoms consistently in their personal life than other young women (21 vs 17%, p<0.01), this finding disappeared after controlling for differences in personal characteristics (e.g., marital status) and number of sexual partners. Additionally, performers were more likely to smoke and to drink alcohol and reported drinking on each occasion compared with CWHS respondents.

Conclusions: Female adult performers engage in many risky personal health behaviors that put them at risk for contracting HIV and other STIs. Although they are routinely tested for HIV and Chlamydia, they use condoms inconsistently.