Condom use among high school girls using long-acting contraception

High school girls who used intrauterine devices and implants for long-acting reversible contraception were less likely to also use condoms compared with girls who used oral contraceptives, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is a promising strategy to reduce unintended pregnancies in teens. But LARC and other , including , don't protect against (STIs) and nearly half of all new STIs occur among young people in their teens and 20s. Guidelines recommend contraception to avoid pregnancy and a condom to prevent STIs, including the (HIV), for sexually active couples. However, such dual use is uncommon among adolescents.

Riley J. Steiner, M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and coauthors compared condom use between sexually active using LARC and users of other contraceptive methods. The authors used data from the 2013 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey of high schools students.

The study included 2,288 sexually active girls of whom almost 57 percent were white and about one-third were high school seniors. Among the girls: 1.8 percent used LARC; 5.7 percent used Depo-Provera injection, patch or ring; 22.4 percent used oral contraceptives; 40.8 percent used condoms; 11.8 percent used withdrawal or other method; 15.7 percent used no contraception; and 1.9 percent weren't sure. Not using a contraceptive method was most common among Hispanic (23.7 percent) and black (21.2 percent) sexually active female students.

The authors report that LARC users were more than 60 percent less likely to use condoms compared with girls who used oral contraceptives. There were no differences in condom use between LARC users and Depo-Provera injection, patch or ring users. LARC users also were more than twice as likely to have two or more recent sexual partners compared with users of oral contraception and Depo-Provera injection, patch or ring, the results suggest.

Limitations to the study include self-reported data and behaviors that may have been inaccurately reported.

"There is a clear need for a concerted effort to improve condom use among adolescent LARC users to prevent STIs, particularly as adolescent LARC use increases," the study concludes.

More information: JAMA Pediatr. Published online March 14, 2016. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.0007

Journal information: JAMA Pediatrics
Citation: Condom use among high school girls using long-acting contraception (2016, March 14) retrieved 18 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-condom-high-school-girls-long-acting.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Teen birth rate falls in US

0 shares

Feedback to editors