Authors:
University Of Glasgow, MRC/CSO Social, University College London, Hygiene, London School Of
Abstract:
<p>The UK <i>National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (</i>Natsal) have been undertaken decennially since 1990 and provide a key data source underpinning sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policy.</p><p> Further information is available from the <a class="external" href="https://www.natsal.ac.uk/" title="Natsal" style="">Natsal</a> website.<br> <br> </p> <p><strong>Natsal-COVID:</strong></p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspe (...)
<p>The UK <i>National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (</i>Natsal) have been undertaken decennially since 1990 and provide a key data source underpinning sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policy.</p><p> Further information is available from the <a class="external" href="https://www.natsal.ac.uk/" title="Natsal" style="">Natsal</a> website.<br> <br> </p> <p><strong>Natsal-COVID:</strong></p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of sexual lifestyles, triggering an urgent need for population-level data on sexual behaviour, relationships, and service use at a time when gold-standard in-person, household-based surveys with probability sampling were not feasible. The Natsal-COVID study was designed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the nation's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and assessed the sample representativeness. The study was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, the Wellcome Trust (with contributions from ESRC and NIHR), the UCL Covid-19 Rapid Response Fund and the Medical Research Council. The Natsal-COVID Wave 1 survey and qualitative follow-up interviews were conducted in 2020. The Wave 2 survey was designed to capture one-year prevalence estimates for key SRH outcomes and measure changes over the first year of the pandemic.</p><p><em>Methods:</em></p><ul> <li>The Natsal-COVID Wave 1 survey was conducted four months after the announcement of Britain's first national lockdown (23 March 2020), between 29 July and 10 August 2020. Wave 1 was an online web-panel survey administered by survey research company, Ipsos MORI. Eligible participants were resident in Britain, aged 18-59 years, and the sample included a boost of those aged 18-29. Questions covered participants' sexual behaviour, relationships, and SRH service use. Quotas and weighting were used to achieve a quasi-representative sample of the British general population. Participants meeting the criteria of interest and agreeing to recontact were selected for qualitative follow-up interviews. Comparisons were made with contemporaneous national probability surveys and Natsal-3 (2010-2012) (see SN 7799) to understand bias.</li> <li>Wave 2 was conducted March-April 2021, approximately one year after the start of Britain’s first national lockdown. Data were collected using an online web-panel survey administered by Ipsos. The sample comprised a longitudinal sample of Wave 1 participants who had agreed to re-contact plus a sample of participants residing in Britain, aged 18-59, including a boost sample comprising people aged 18-29. Questions covered reproductive health, relationships, sexual behaviour and SRH service use. Quotas and weighting were used to achieve a quasi-representative sample of the British population.</li> </ul><p><em>Results:</em></p><ul> <li>Wave 1: 6,654 participants completed the survey and 45 completed follow-up interviews. The weighted Natsal-COVID sample was similar to the general population in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, rurality, and, among sexually-active participants, the number of sexual partners in the past year. However, the sample was more educated, contained more sexually-inexperienced people, and included more people in poorer health.</li> <li>Wave 2: A total of 6,658 individuals completed the survey. In terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and rurality, the weighted Natsal-COVID Wave 2 sample was like the general population. Participants were less likely to be married or to report being in good health than the general population. The longitudinal sample (n=2,098) was broadly similar to participants who only took part in Wave 1 but were older. Among the sexually active, longitudinal participants were less likely to report multiple sexual partners or a new sexual partner in the past year compared to those who only took part in Wave 1.</li> </ul><p><em>Conclusions:</em></p><ul> <li>Wave 1 rapidly collected quasi-representative population data to enable evaluation of the early population-level impact of COVID-19 and lockdown measures on SRH in Britain and inform policy. Although sampling was less representative than the decennial Natsal surveys, Natsal-COVID will complement national surveillance data and Natsal-4 (planned for 2022).</li> <li>Wave 2 collected longitudinal, quasi-representative population data to enable evaluation of the population-level impact of COVID-19 on SRH and to inform policy.</li> </ul><p><strong>Latest edition information</strong></p><p class="x_x_x_MsoNormal"> </p><p>For the second edition (January 2023), data and documentation for Wave 2 were added to the study.</p>
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