ArticleArchives of sexual behavior2015
Why women engage in anal intercourse: results from a qualitative study.
Article in Archives of sexual behavior, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Increases in HIV Incidence Following Receptive Anal Intercourse Among Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.AIDS and behavior · 2020Pooled it
- Does per-act HIV-1 transmission risk through anal sex vary by gender? An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2018Pooled it
- Sexual behavior of women who have sex with women.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2026Article
- Perceptions and experiences of receptive anal intercourse among women: a systematic review and thematic analysis.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- What do colorectal specialists think about female participation in anal intercourse? An online survey of UK coloproctologists.Techniques in coloproctology · 2025Article
- "What Is Normal?": A Qualitative Exploration of Health Practitioners' Reports of Treating Patients Presenting with Unpleasant Sexual Experiences.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- Validation of the Brief Index of Sexual Functioning for women and men (BISF-W and BISF-M) in an Italian sample.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The Association Between Heterosexual anal Intercourse and HIV Acquisition in Three Prospective Cohorts of Women.AIDS and behavior · 2023Article
- Heterosexual Oral and Anal Sex: Perceptions, Terminologies, and Attitudes of Younger and Older Adults in Ibadan, Nigeria.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Article
- Longitudinal determinants of anal intercourse among women with, and without HIV in the United States.BMC women's health · 2022Article
- Women's techniques for pleasure from anal touch: Results from a U.S. probability sample of women ages 18-93.PloS one · 2022Article
- Individual and Partnership Factors Associated with Heterosexual Anal Intercourse Among Attendees of Public Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics in Los Angeles County.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Article
- Receptive anal sex contributes substantially to heterosexually acquired HIV infections among at-risk women in twenty US cities: Results from a modelling analysis.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2020Article
- Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Receptive Anal Intercourse Among Women.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2020Article
- Perceptions of Anal Intercourse Among Heterosexual Women: A Pilot Qualitative Study.Sexual medicine · 2019Article
- A latent class analysis of alcohol and drug use immediately before or during sex among women.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2019Article
- Efficacy of Vaginally Administered Gel Containing Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Against Repeated Rectal Simian Human Immunodeficiency Virus Exposures in Macaques.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2018Article
- Anal sexual experience and HIV risk awareness among female sex workers in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia.Global health research and policy · 2017Article
- Social and psychological correlates of unprotected anal intercourse among Hispanic-American women: implications for STI/HIV prevention.Culture, health & sexuality · 2016Article
- Condomless Anal Intercourse Among Males and Females at High Risk for Heterosexual HIV Infection.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study used qualitative methods to assess why women engage in heterosexual anal (receptive) intercourse (AI) with a male partner. Four focus groups which comprised women from diverse ethnicities were conducted. All groups were digitally recorded for transcription; transcripts were analyzed using the methods of grounded theory to determine themes. Women's reasons for engaging in anal intercourse with a male partner can be described in broad categories including that the women wanted to have anal intercourse, either because of their own desire, to please a male partner, or they were responding to a quid pro quo situation. The riskiness of AI was assessed within relationship contexts. Past experience with AI including emotional and physical reactions was identified. Among the negative physical experiences of AI were pain and disliking the sensation, and uncomfortable side effects, such as bleeding of the rectum. Negative emotional experiences of AI included feelings of shame, disgust, and being offended by something her male partner did, such as spitting on his penis for lubrication. Positive physical experiences included liking the sensation. Many of the women also endorsed positive emotional experiences of AI, including that it was more intimate than vaginal sex, and that it was something they reserved only for special partners. The majority of AI episodes were unplanned and not discussed prior to initiation. Pain during AI was mitigated by the use of lubricants or illicit drugs. Even those women who found pleasure in AI expressed a preference for vaginal intercourse.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.