Keri Canada

Sexual Risk-taking and Health-seeking Behavior in Orange County Adults: a Survey of Potential Influences Keri Canada

Survey results from the Orange County Health Needs Assessment (OCHNA) were published in the spring of 2005, detailing aspects of general health and health-seeking behavior in Orange County (California) residents. What was missing from this dataset, however, was detailed information on sexual behavior. This book analyzes the data collected by the OCHNA, along with data collected by the author on sexual risk-taking and health-seeking behavior, in an attempt to determine whether or not sexually risky behavior in adults has any relation to satisfaction with and/or access to health care. For example, is a sexually active woman who is dissatisfied with her health care provider less likely to seek regular reproductive health care (e.g., regular Pap smears, STD testing, birth control prescriptions), leaving her more likely to practice risky sexual behavior? The collection and analysis of data on ethnicity, insurance status, and income level can help determine to what extent these factors should be considered when evaluating frequency of medical visits. This work will be especially useful to anthropologists, medical professionals, or anyone else interested in health data analysis.