Sexually active young women often underestimat...( sk' such as patients seen at STD clini...),Health

sk,' such as patients seen at STD clinics, inner-city clinics and student clinics." said Yarnall. "In this study we wanted to include women not currently enrolled in college to find out what the average 'Jane' thinks. Non-students in this age group haven't really been surveyed to understand their views about condom use and STD risk."

Yarnall said that the non-students tended to be older and non-white; they reported more lifetime partners having more partners over the previous 12 months than students. Non-students were also more likely to have had prior STDs. Both groups reported the same rates of unprotected sex in the last three months, and more than 75 percent of all women surveyed perceived themselves at low-risk for acquiring an STD in the next year.

"In both groups, women were less likely to use condoms if they were older, white, on birth control pills or had partners that didn't see condoms as important," said Yarnall. "In the non-student women, binge drinking was significantly associated with unprotected sex among non-students, but that was not the case with the students."

While college students have educational programs focusing on binge drinking and impaired judgement, Yarnall said most non-students to not have access to such programs and information. The lack of these educational programs may explain the connection between binge drinking and unprotected sex in non-students.

Yarnall also points out that the non-students in general were more likely to have unprotected sex with someone they did not consider to be a committed partner.

"Neither group had a great track record as far as safer sex," said Yarnall. "But the college students did a little better overall. Students were less likely to have unprotected sex with someone they met at a party or bar. Non-students were just as likely to have unprotected sex with their boyfriend as they were a man they had just met."

Yarnall believes that recognizing predictors o
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Contact: Amy Austell
amy.austell@duke.edu
919-660-1303
Duke University Medical Center
1-Aug-2003

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