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Women who have sex with women (WSW) are women who engage in sexual activities with other women, whether or not they identify themselves as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, or dispense with sexual identification altogether. The term ''WSW'' is often used in medical literature to describe such women as a group for clinical study, without needing to consider sexual self-identity. ==Physical== In terms of medical issues with regard to lesbian sexual practices, the sexual identification of women who consult a medical professional is usually not sought nor volunteered, due to the misconceptions and assumptions about sexuality and the hesitancy of some women in disclosing their accurate sexual histories even to a physician.〔King, p. 219.〕 Many women who do not participate in heterosexual activity do not go to see a physician because they do not require birth control, which is the initiating factor for most women to seek consultation with a gynecologist when they become sexually active.〔Zimmerman, p. 359.〕 As a result, these women are not screened regularly with pap smears because they have a lower perceived risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection or types of cancer. A factor which leads to lesbians neglecting to seek medical screening in the United States is a lack of health insurance offered by employers for same-sex domestic partners.〔"(Frequently Asked Questions: Lesbian Health )", womenshealth.gov. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved January 12, 2009.〕 When women do seek medical attention, medical professionals often fail to take a complete medical history. In a recent study of 2,345 lesbian and bisexual women, only 9.3% had claimed they had ever been asked their sexual orientation by a physician. A third of the respondents believed disclosing their sexual history would result in a negative reaction, and 30% had received a negative reaction from a medical professional after identifying themselves as lesbian or bisexual.〔Mravack, Sally A. (July 2006)."Primary Care for Lesbians and Bisexual Women", ''American Family Physician'' 74 (2), pp. 279–286.〕 A patient's complete history helps medical professionals identify higher risk areas and corrects assumptions about the personal histories of women. In a similar survey of 6,935 lesbians, 77% had had sexual contact with one or more male partners, and 6% had that contact within the previous year.〔〔Another summary of overall surveys found that women who identify as lesbian, 80-95% had previous sexual contact with men, and some report sexual behavior that is risky. (King, p. 221.)〕 Heart disease is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the number one cause of death for all women. Factors that add to risk of heart disease include obesity and smoking, both of which are more prevalent in lesbians. Studies show that lesbians have a higher body mass and are generally less concerned about weight issues than heterosexual women, although they are more likely to engage in exercise regularly.〔〔 Lack of differentiation between lesbians and heterosexual women in medical studies that concentrate on health issues for women skews results for lesbians and non-lesbian women. Reports are inconclusive about occurrence of breast cancer in lesbians.〔 It has been determined, however, that the lower rate of lesbians tested by regular pap smears makes it more difficult to detect cervical cancer at early stages in lesbians. The risk factors for developing ovarian cancer rates are higher in lesbians than in heterosexual women, perhaps because many lesbians lack protective factors of pregnancy, abortion, contraceptives, breast feeding, and miscarriages.〔Vo, Christine, Carney, Michael (December 2007). "Ovarian Cancer Hormonal and Environmental Risk Effect", ''Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics''34 (4) p. 687–700.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Women who have sex with women」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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