SEXUAL-ACTIVITY AND CONDOM USE IN HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS

Objective: To determine the level of sexual experience and condom use among Year 9 high school students. Design: Self-administered questionnaire to all Year 9 students attending a personal development workshop. Setting: The study was carried out in two regional high schools in New South Wales, one in an urban area and the other in a rural area. Participants: A total of 253 students in Year 9 at the two high schools; only two students declined to participate. Results: Seventy-one students (28.1%) had had intercourse at least once. There was no statistically significant difference between the percentage of male and female students or rural and urban students who had had intercourse. Thirty students (42.3%) always used condoms, 35.2% used them sometimes and the other sexually active students had never used them. The commonest reasons for nonuse were unplanned sex, unavailability or no time. Conclusions: The unpredictability of teenage sexual activity may mean that condoms are not available at the crucial time. Girls appear to have more difficulty in asking for condoms to be used, but the numbers are two small in this survey to draw definite conclusions. If both pregnancy and sexually transmissible diseases are to be prevented among adolescents, sex education must encourage condom use as the first method of contraception for this group and emphasise the need for consistent availability and use.