Validity of Partner Reports of Recent Condomless Sex.

BACKGROUND: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a biomarker of vaginal semen exposure, is less susceptible to bias than self-reported condom use behaviors. We examined the agreement of self-reported recent condomless sex (RCS) within couples and how these reports related to PSA detection. METHODS: We analyzed data from a study conducted in Vietnam, 2017 to 2020, of 500 different-sex couples using condoms and no other contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy for 6 months. We assessed enrollment and 6-month data from vaginal swabs and questionnaires from both partners. We calculated Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa (PABAK) to evaluate agreement of men's and women's reports. Among couples with detected PSA, we assessed partner concordance of RCS reporting. RESULTS: At enrollment (n = 499), 79.8% of couples reported no RCS, 16.4% reported RCS, and 3.8% had partner-discordant reports (PABAK, 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.91-0.97). At 6 months (n = 472), 91.7% reported no RCS, 5.7% reported RCS, and 2.5% had partner-discordant reports (PABAK, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.96-1.0). Among couples with detected PSA at baseline (11%, n = 55), 36% reported no RCS, 55% reported RCS, and 6% had discordant reports; at 6 months (6.6%, n = 31), 58% reported no RCS, 35% reported RCS, and 3% had discordant reports. CONCLUSIONS: We observed high agreement regarding condomless sex within couples in a population using condoms as contraception in Vietnam; however, a high proportion of couples with detected PSA had both partners reporting no RCS, indicating that concordant reporting of no RCS does not indicate lack of semen exposure.

Educational experiences and American young adults' childbearing goals: A research note.

Objective: This research note describes the relationship between young adults' educational experiences and childbearing goals in the U.S. Background: In the U.S., education is associated with later childbearing and fewer children, but the relationship between education and fertility desires and intentions is less well-understood. This article contributes to the research literature by illustrating variation in prospective fertility goals by education, focusing on the early life course in order to understand young adults' goals before they have been shaped by parenting and extensive workforce experiences. Method: This analysis uses data from the National Surveys of Family Growth (1995-2019), a nationally representative survey, to study fertility desires and intentions among childless U.S. men and women ages 19-24. Predicted probabilities demonstrating differences in fertility goals by educational experiences, from three sets of multivariable analyses (logistic regression predicting fertility desires and intentions, separately, and negative binomial regression predicting intended parity), are shown. Results: Men and women with a bachelor's degree and those enrolled in college do not have lower fertility goals than those without a degree and not enrolled; if anything, more educated individuals are slightly more likely to desire (for men only) and intend children and to have slightly larger intended family size. Conclusions: Education gaps in fertility in the United States are not attributable to differences in early-life fertility goals.