Reproductive health risk behavior survey of Colombian high school students

Purpose: To establish rates of potentially risky sexual behaviors among Col ombian adolescent students. Methods: A total of 230 9th and 11th graders at a Colombian high school (69 % of enrolled students) were anonymously surveyed about selected reproducti ve health behaviors using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's self-administered Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results: The response rate was >90%. The group was demographically represen tative of students. Twenty-nine percent of the group had engaged in interco urse (13% of 9th and 43% of 11th graders). Male gender [beta = 0.7873; odds ratio (OR) = 2.09; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.57-3.08] and increasin g age (beta = 0.3413; OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.02-1.93) were each significantl y correlated with prior sexual activity. Compared with females, males initi ated intercourse at a significantly earlier age (beta = 0.284; p < .001) bu t did not report significantly more partners (means 2.1 vs. 1.4; chi(2) = 1 .25; p = .262). Forty-eight percent of respondents used contraception durin g their last encounter. Sixty-three percent used oral contraceptives or con doms, while the remainder used less effective methods. Contraceptive use di d not correlate with gender or age. Age was significantly and positively co rrelated with use of alcohol prior to sexual activity (B = 1.28; OR = 3.6; 95% CI = 1.49-8.44). Conclusions: Compared with U.S. populations of similar ages, the Colombian group surveyed had fewer sexually active members, reported fewer partners, and used contraception with lower frequency. (C) Society for Adolescent Med icine, 1999.