Nonpaternity and Half-Siblingships as Objective Measures of Extramarital Sex: Mathematical Modeling and Simulations

Omori, Ryosuke, Nagelkerke, Nicolaas and Abu-Raddad, Laith J. (2017) 'Nonpaternity and Half-Siblingships as Objective Measures of Extramarital Sex: Mathematical Modeling and Simulations'. BioMed Research International, Vol 2017, Issue 3564861, pp. 1-9.

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Abstract

Background.
Understanding the epidemiology of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) requires knowledge of sexual behavior, but self-reported behavior has limitations. We explored the reliability and validity of nonpaternity and half-siblings ratios as biomarkers of current and past extramarital sex.

Methods.
An individual-based Monte Carlo simulation model was constructed to describe partnering and conception in human populations with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The model was parameterized with representative biological, behavioral, and demographic data.

Results.
Nonpaternity and half-siblings ratios were strongly correlated with extramarital sex, with Pearson correlation coefficients (PCC) of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71–0.86) and 0.77 (0.68–0.84), respectively. Age-specific nonpaternity ratios correlated with past extramarital sex at time of conception for different scenarios: for example, PCC, after smoothing by moving averages, was 0.75 (0.52–0.89) in a scenario of steadily decreasing nonmarital sex and 0.39 (0.01–0.73) in a scenario of transient drops in nonmarital sex. Simulations assuming self-reported levels of extramarital sex from Kenya yielded nonpaternity levels lower than global nonpaternity data, suggesting sizable underreporting of extramarital sex.

Conclusions.
Nonpaternity and half-siblings ratios are useful objective measures of extramarital sex that avoid limitations in self-reported sexual behavior.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > WA 20.5 Research (General) WC Communicable Diseases > Sexually Transmitted Diseases > WC 140 Sexually transmitted diseases WC Communicable Diseases > Sexually Transmitted Diseases > WC 144 Prevention
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > Clinical Sciences Department Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/3564861
SWORD Depositor:	JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User:	JISC Pubrouter
Date Deposited:	15 Sep 2017 14:24
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2017 14:24
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/7529

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