The Kissing and Sexual Practice (KASP) study was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, which aimed to understand the body position of tongue kissing and activities during group sex in relation to sexually transmitted infections. Individuals who were aged 16 years or above were eligible to participate, with no restriction on sexual orientations. A total of 4600 participants completed the KASP study between May 1st 2019 and March 13th 2020.
Main findings
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Heterosexual men reported a longer kissing duration than heterosexual women when they were on top of the opposite-gender kissing partner More men were on top of their most recent opposite-gender kissing partner compared to women.
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On average, MSM born in Asia and South America or the Caribbean spent less time kissing while above or lying underneath their most recent male partner compared to those born in Oceania. Men who had only receptive anal sex spent less time kissing while above than those who only had insertive anal sex.
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The average duration of kissing in female sex workers with their most recent partner was 5 minutes. Most female sex workers had sex with the man they most recently kissed. We also found that 38% of female sex workers also kissed another woman in the past 3 months.
- More than a quarter of female sex workers reported group sex (i.e. having sex with at least two persons on a single occasion). While condoms are always used during group sex, we discovered that 1 in 6 men did not change condoms between partners.
Researchers
Principal investigator
Associate investigators
Student investigators
Publications
The duration and body position during tongue-kissing among heterosexual men and women
Tran J, Fairley CK, Ong JJ, Bradshaw CS, Aung ET, Maddaford K, Chen MY, Hocking JS, Chow EPF
(2022), Frontiers in Public Health,
Duration of kissing in different intimate positions among men who have sex with men: A cross-sectional study
Tran J, Fairley CK, Ong JJ, Bradshaw CS, Aung ET, Maddaford K, Chen MY, Hocking JS, Chow EPF
(2024), International Journal of STD & AIDS,
Sexual activities and changes in condom use in group sex events among female sex workers in Melbourne, Australia.
Lew C, Fairley CK, Tran J, Phillips TR, Aung ET, Maddaford K, Chen MY, Bradshaw CS, Chow EPF.
(2022), Frontiers in Public Health,
Understanding the duration of tongue kissing among female sex workers for potential oropharyngeal–oropharyngeal gonorrhoea transmission
Chow EPF, Lew C, Tran J, Phillips TR, Maddaford K, Fairley CK.
(2022), Sexually Transmitted Infections,