One in 10 sexually active teens has same-sex partners

Thursday, October 28, 2010


By Zach Gottlieb


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests that nearly one in sexually active ten teens have same-sex partners -- almost twice as many as previous research found. According to a 2002 study of Massachusetts and Vermont teens, only 5 percent to 6 percent of teens had same-sex partners.

In the new study, 9.3 percent of teens said they did.

"Clearly there's a high rate of same-sex partners among teens, and we need to recognize any vulnerabilities that may be associated with these behaviors," said Dr. Susan Blank, an assistant commissioner at the NYC Health Department. Blank, who was not involved with the study, was referring to a lower rate of condom use and unwanted sex among teens with same-sex partners seen in the study.

The new research, published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at more than 17,000 teens in New York City. It found that teens who had sex with only their own gender or with both genders were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors, putting themselves at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, half of the 18 million new cases of STDs that occur each year happen among people aged 15 to 24.

Such risky behaviors included not using a condom during sex and having forced sex. More than half of boys who engaged in bisexual behavior didn't use a condom, compared to a fifth of those who engaged exclusively in heterosexual behavior. The difference was not quite as large for girls who engaged in bisexual behavior and those who engaged exclusively in heterosexual behavior, but it was similar: About half of the former didn't use a condom, compared to 30 percent of the latter.

About a third of those teens who engaged in bisexual behavior had forced sex at some point in their lives, much higher than the 6 percent of those boys who engaged exclusively in heterosexual behavior and the 16 percent of the similar group of girls.

Elizabeth Saewyc, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, told Reuters Health that these teens may engage in riskier behavior because sex education programs don't always acknowledge gay, lesbian, and bisexual relationships.

"Some teens I've seen tell me that they completely check out of sex ed because they feel what they were learning didn't apply to them," said Saewyc, who was not involved in the new study.

She suggested that educators need to acknowledge gay, lesbian, and bisexual relationships more often in sex education curriculums so that teens are more likely to listen and will feel more comfortable discussing any issues.

Though the authors of the new study report that the rate of same-sex partners is higher than previous studies, Saewyc pointed that this rate is actually similar to what she has seen in her own work and other studies.

In the 2008 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey, for teens who were sexually active, 8 percent of males and 10 percent of females reported having had a same-sex partner. In a study looking at the 2001 Minnesota Student Survey, 9.4 percent of teens reported having had partners of the same or both sexes.

Dr. Preeti Pathela, lead author of the new study, said the results may have been different this time around because some states do not measure same-sex encounters. Still, Pathela said, it's clear that some teens are more vulnerable to risky behavior and STDs than others. In discussing sexual relationships and potential risks, she said it is important that parents, educators, and researchers focus on behaviors and not just on sexual identity.

"How teens identify themselves doesn't always correlate with actual behaviors," said Pathela, a research scientist in the New York Department of Public Health and Mental Hygiene. "Behavior is a better measure of what's actually happening because teens are changing rapidly." SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/gas77m Pediatrics, October 25, 2010.

Reuters Health

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The OTHER condom......

The Female Condom

Guest comment by Olympia J., SBI Health Education intern

There are three types of male condoms: latex, polyurethane, and natural skin sheath. The male condom is everywhere from local pharmacies, to doctor offices, schools and health fairs. There is also the female condom which is made primarily from polyurethane and sometimes from latex. When used properly, the female condom is effective at preventing pregnancy, transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). What makes the female condom appealing is that it gives women more control over their sexual health instead of depending solely on a male. However, none of these potential benefits can be realized because of the scarcity of the female condom. Some of us may have heard of the female condom but have never seen, read about, or bought one. How many of us have gone into a pharmacy and seen the countless boxes of male condoms varying in color, flavor and size? Now, how many of us have gone into a pharmacy and have seen countless boxes of the female condom? Exactly! You don’t. Now is time to globalize and advertise the female condom!

So let’s get started with Female Condom 101: The general structure of the female condom is a pouch that contains an inner ring and an outer-ring. Female condoms are clear colored and are generally the same shape and size. There are two approved types of female condoms in the United States, the FC and the FC 2. Here is how to use a female condom:

For instructions with images, check out Female Health Company's instructional video

1) Squeeze the inner ring with your thumb and index fingers

2) Get into a comfortable position either by squatting, laying down, or lifting up your leg (similar to inserting a tampon)

3) Push female condom as far back as it can go (it will be stopped by your cervix), make sure it is securely positioned between the pelvic bone and the cervix.

4) The outer ring will hang outside the vagina. Make sure it covers the labia and that your partner enters through the outer-ring.

5) When you are done, grab the outer ring, twist the pouch, pull out the female condom and discard of it (although the female condom looks sturdy, IT IS NOT APPROVED FOR REUSE!)



Information from:
http://www.fwhc.org/birth-control/femalecondom.htm
http://www.avert.org/female-condom

STI Statistics

One in five people in the United States has an STI

Two-thirds of all STIs occur in people 25 years of age or younger

Cervical cancer in women is linked to Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV

STIs, other than HIV, cost about $8 billion each year to diagnose and treat

One in five Americans have genital herpes, yet at least 80 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it
At least one in four Americans will contract an STI at some point in their lives

Human Papillomavirus is the most common STI in the United States

More than 5 million people are infected with HPV each year

Less than half of adults ages 18 to 44 have ever been tested for an STI other than HIV/AIDS

At least 15 percent of all infertile American women are infertile because of tubal damage caused by pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), the result of an untreated STI

Two-thirds of Hepatitis B (HBV) infections are transmitted sexually and are linked to chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer