This paper presents an analysis of trends in sexual activity by marital status and age, and their associations with contraceptive use. Understanding levels of, and trends in, sexual activity is important for assessing the needs for family planning services and for analysing commonly used family planning indicators. Data were taken from 220 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) and 62 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICSs) to provide insights into sexual activity by marital status and age in a total of 94 countries in different regions of the world. The results show the sensitivity of the indicator with respect to the definition of currently sexually active, based on the timing of last sexual intercourse (during the last 4 weeks, 3 months, or 1 year). Substantial diversity in sexual activity by marital status and age was demonstrated across countries. The proportion of married women reporting recent sexual activity (sexual intercourse during the last 4 weeks) ranged from 50% to 90%. The proportion of unmarried women reporting recent sexual activity did not exceed 50% in any of the 94 countries with available data, but showed substantial regional differences: it appeared to be rare in Asia and extremely varied within Africa, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Among married women, sexual activity did not vary much by age group, while for unmarried women, there was an inverted U-pattern by age, with the youngest age group (15–19 years old) having the lowest proportion sexually active. The proportion of women who reported currently using contraception and reported not being sexually active varied by the contraceptive method used and was overall much greater among unmarried women. The evidence presented in this paper can be used to improve family planning policies and programmes to serve the diverse needs, for example regarding method choice and service provision, of unmarried women.

中文翻译：

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婚姻状况和年龄的性活动：比较视角

本文分析了婚姻状况和年龄的性活动趋势，以及它们与避孕药具使用的关系。了解性活动的水平和趋势对于评估计划生育服务的需求和分析常用的计划生育指标非常重要。数据取自 220 次人口与健康调查 (DHS) 和 62 次多指标类集调查 (MICS)，以提供对世界不同地区总共 94 个国家的婚姻状况和年龄的性活动的洞察。结果显示该指标对当前性活跃定义的敏感性，基于最后一次性交的时间（在过去 4 周、3 个月或 1 年内）。各国的婚姻状况和年龄表明性活动存在很大差异。报告近期性活动（过去 4 周内的性交）的已婚妇女比例从 50% 到 90% 不等。在有可用数据的 94 个国家中，报告近期性活动的未婚女性比例均未超过 50%，但显示出巨大的区域差异：在亚洲似乎很少见，而在非洲、欧洲、拉丁美洲和加勒比地区则差异很大. 在已婚女性中，性活动在不同年龄段的差异不大，而对于未婚女性，则呈现倒U型，年龄最小（15-19岁）的性活跃比例最低。报告目前使用避孕措施但没有性活跃的女性比例因使用的避孕方法而异，未婚女性总体上要高得多。本文提供的证据可用于改进计划生育政策和计划，以满足未婚妇女的各种需求，例如在方法选择和服务提供方面。