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Religion and the Risks of Sexually Transmissible Infections: Evidence from Britain

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Abstract

Although a growing body of literature has explored the association between religion and the prevalence of sexually transmissible infections (STIs), the focus has mainly been on HIV/AIDS and developing countries. Using data from the British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal), we examine the direct association between religion and the prevalence of STIs including individual perception of exposure and risk of STIs. We focus on the importance of religion to respondents, religious affiliation as well as frequency of attendance to religious meetings. Our analyses suggest that being religious and frequently attending religious meetings are associated with lower odds of being diagnosed with STIs as well as lower self-assessed risk of getting HIV/AIDS. This seems particularly true for adherents of Christianity and more specifically, those of the Catholic denomination.

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Notes

  1. Abbott et al. (2016) define sexual attitudes as the different ways in which individuals feel and think about sex and sexuality including premarital sex and homosexuality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Finance and Marketing,, RMIT University, 445 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Australia

    Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Samuelson Appau

  2. Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

    Janet Exornam Ocloo

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  1. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill
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  2. Samuelson Appau
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  3. Janet Exornam Ocloo
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Correspondence to Sefa Awaworyi Churchill.

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Table 4 Description and summary statistics of variables
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Awaworyi Churchill, S., Appau, S. & Ocloo, J.E. Religion and the Risks of Sexually Transmissible Infections: Evidence from Britain. J Relig Health 60, 1613–1629 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01239-0

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