SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR AND SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED DISEASES IN DUTCH MARINES AND NAVAL PERSONNEL ON A UNITED-NATIONS MISSION IN CAMBODIA

Objectives-To deter-mine the sexual risk behaviour and the incidence o f sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among Dutch marines and naval pe rsonnel during a United Nations (UN) deployment. Methods-Surveillance by post deployment questionnaire, administered to 2289 persons in thre e successive battalions who sewed for 6 months on a UN deployment in C ambodia during June 1992 November 1993. On site the medical history of all individuals was kept up to date in a database. All personnel rece ived extra education on STD prevention prior to deployment. Condoms we re freely obtainable during deployment. Results-1885 persons (82%) han ded in the questionnaire of whom 842 (45%) reported to have had sexual contacts with prostitutes or local population. Being younger and sing le were independent risk factors for having contact. Out of these 842 persons, 750 (89.1%) reported condom use at all times, while 82 (9.7%) reported inconsistent use and 10 persons (1.2%) reported not to have used condoms. Risk factors for inconsistent and non use were being 30 years or older and a higher number of contacts. From the 832 (750+82) condom users, 248 (30%) reported condom failure. Risk factors for fail ure were: inconsistent condom use, having had more than six contacts a nd being in the second battalion. The patient recording database showe d 43 STD cases registered in the total population of 2289 persons (1.9 %). Conclusions-A low STD incidence was found despite a considerable n umber of reported sexual contacts. The reported condom use was high bu t the failure rate was considerable and needs further attention.