Methodology of the German National Sex Survey – GeSiD (German Health and Sexuality Survey)

ABSTRACT

The German Health and Sexuality Survey (GeSiD) was carried out in 2018/2019 to provide up-to-date measures of sexual behavior, sexual attitudes and sexual lifestyles of the adult population. We describe the methods used in GeSiD which surveyed the general population in Germany aged 18–75 years (with oversampling of younger adults aged 18–35 years). This article focuses on study design, recruitment, and response rate and discusses the strategies implemented to enhance the response rate compared to the pilot study. Overall, 4.955 interviews were completed with a response rate of 30.2%. The data were weighted by age, gender, education, nationality, and region to reduce possible bias. Compared to the German 2018 census, the weighted sample provides good representativeness for selected respondent characteristics. The computer-assisted interviews consisted of a combination of face-to-face and self-completion components. They covered a broad perspective on sexual health, which included topics such as online sexual activities, pleasure, sexual dysfunction, and sexual violence. Reliable data on sexual and reproductive health in Germany are urgently needed for evidence-based prevention and health promotion work, to inform sexual health policy and for cross-national comparisons of the development of sexual behavior in Europe.

Acknowledgments

The research team would like to thank all participants of the GeSiD-Study for their time and for generously sharing their experiences and knowledge. We would like to thank Dr. Miriam Gerlich, Dr. Mirja Otten, Dr. Johannes Breuer and Verena Lulei from the Federal Centre for Health Education for their constructive contributions to the discussion during the study planning and especially during the development of the questionnaire.

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [SM], upon reasonable request.

Notes

¹ The questionnaire and an overview of the sources included in the GeSiD questionnaire are available from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This work has been supported by the Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (Federal Center for Health Education) under Grant [Z2/25.5.2.1/16] (pilot study) and Grant [Z2/25.5.2.1./18] (main study).