19 May 2005

Condom confusion puts young people’s sexual health at risk


Many sexually active young people put themselves at risk because they do not use condoms consistently or correctly, according to a study published today by Brook, the sexual heath charity for young people.


The study, funded by the Big Lottery Fund and carried out by the Centre for Sexual Health Research at the University of Southampton, found that only around a third of sexually active young people reported using condoms consistently.

It also revealed some major gaps in young people’s knowledge of sexual health issues. In a survey of more than 1300 young people aged 16-18: 
• 52% thought that chlamydia only affects women
• 54% did not know that emergency contraception can be taken up to 72 hours after having sex
• 31% thought that STIs can be caught from a toilet seat

School was considered to be the most important source of information on sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Jan Barlow, Chief Executive of Brook, said:

“This report should really focus the minds of everyone who cares about the sexual health of young people today. Condoms are the only way for sexually active young people to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as being an effective form of contraception, as long as they are used properly. Although most young people do now use condoms at least some of the time, the majority are still putting themselves at risk by using them inconsistently and sometimes incorrectly.

“Many also think that STIs are something that happen to other people – they simply don’t believe that the risk applies to them personally. Britain’s sexual health crisis won’t go away until this problem is tackled head-on in sexual health awareness campaigns and in improved sex and relationships education in schools.

“The findings reveal that school is a key source of information on sexual health - a powerful argument for extending sex and relationships education and making it a compulsory part of the national curriculum. They also underline the need for sex and relationships education to help young people develop the communication skills and the confidence to discuss this sort of issue. Young people who have discussed and agreed on condom use are more likely to actually use a condom when they do have sex.”


Summary of key findings


Sources of knowledge

  • More than two thirds of young people included school among their top three most important sources of information on STIs (compared to 35% who said books and magazines, 31% who cited parents/guardians and 28% who said friends were in their top three most important sources)

Gaps in knowledge

  • 52% of young people thought that chlamydia only affects women
  • 54% did not know that emergency contraception can be taken up to 72 hours after having sex
  • 31% thought that STIs can be caught from a toilet seat

Condom use

  • The majority of young people had used a condom on at least one occasion but only around a third (37% of men and 30% of women) reported using condoms consistently.
  • Condoms were used primarily for contraceptive purposes rather than STI prevention, and their effectiveness in preventing the transmission of STIs was sometimes compromised by the inconsistency and poor quality of their use (e.g. the condom was applied too late, or removed too early)
  • Young people were more likely to use a condom if they had previously discussed and agreed it with their partner; if they had used a condom with their partner before; if sex was very much wanted; and if sexually active friends were thought to use condoms.

Perception of risk of STIs

  • Although many young people are worried about STIs and HIV in general (89% and 83% respectively of those surveyed) much lower proportions consider themselves to be personally at risk of STIs and HIV (61% and 50% respectively), suggesting that increasing concern or fear over STIs many not lead to an increase in personal risk perception.
  • Knowing someone who has been diagnosed with an STI encourages young people to get tested themselves, but does not necessarily motivate them to use condoms to prevent infection in future.

Comments made during interviews with young people

On the risk of STIs:


 “… when you know someone for quite a while, and you know, you get on with them and stuff, you just think, oh no, they’ll be alright, they won’t have any diseases…” (Female, 20 years)
“I have a single partner so… And my single partner doesn’t have any diseases. And I trust that she doesn’t have any partners.” (Male, 19 years)

 “I’ve always been on the pill anyway so I know that it’s not desperate to use one [a condom], it’s not that I’m going to get pregnant...” (Female, 18 years)

On STI testing:


“A friend of mine said she had [chlamydia] and she said that, because I didn’t realise how common it is, and she said… she didn’t know how she’d caught it … so I was really terrified after that so I went for a check and found out that I had it, but I’d only slept with one person.”  (Female, 20 years)


 
– ends –


For further information contact Catherine Evans on 0207 284 6047/ catherinee@brookcentres.org.uk

 

 

  1. Notes to editors
    The choreography of condom use was carried out on Brook’s behalf by Bethan Hatherall, Nicole Stone, Roger Ingham and Juliet McEachran of the Centre of Sexual Health Research at the University of Southampton. Media copies of the research summary can be requested from the Brook press office. The full report and summary will be available electronically on Southampton University website www.socstats.soton.ac.uk/cshr and on  Brook’s website www.brook.org.uk
  2. This project was funded by the Big Lottery Fund. 
  3. Methodology: the study used a mixture of methods to reach its conclusions. Firstly, focus group discussions were conducted with young people to inform the design of the study and research tools. Secondly, a self-completion questionnaire was distributed to 1373 young people aged 16-21 (of whom the vast majority – 97% - were aged 16-18) in 21 schools and colleges in four selected sites in England (Wigan & Bolton, Rotherham, Wiltshire and Bromley). This was followed by a sexual encounter diary questionnaire completed by 108 sexually active young people over a period of six months. Finally thirty interviews were conducted with young people to explore in greater depth some of the issues that had emerged from earlier stages of the research. 
  4. Out of every 100 women using the male condom consistently and correctly over a period of one year, two are likely to fall pregnant. However, many people do not use contraception perfectly and as a result the rate for typical use is 15%. 
  5. Between 1995 and 2003 amongst, respectively, young men and young women aged 16-19, diagnoses of new episodes of gonorrhoea increased by 197% and 174% and new episodes of chlamydia increased by 409% and 252%. Likewise, cases of new episodes of genital warts, the most common viral STI, increased by 32% and 33% among men and women aged 16-19. 
  6. The under-18 conception rate for England in 2003 was 42.1/1000. 
  7. Brook is the country’s leading provider of free, confidential sexual health advice and contraception to young people under 25. The charity has 40 years’ experience of providing impartial and confidential sexual health advice and services to young people through a national network of 17 centres across the UK. Each year Brook provides more than 100,000 young people with professional advice from specially trained doctors, nurses, counsellors and outreach and information workers.
  8. Young people can call Brook free and in confidence on 0800 0185 023, or by online enquiry via Ask Brook at www.brook.org.uk for fast automated information on key sexual health topics they can text BROOK INFO to 81222. For details of their nearest young people’s sexual health service they can text BROOK SERVICE followed by their postcode and will receive a reply within 24 hours.