Characteristics of sexual behavior in the male population from Mexico City.

Objective. To determine the major features of sexual behavior in men from M exico City, such as the number of sexual partners, history of sexually tran smitted disease (STD) and beliefs on AIDS. Material and methods. A transver sal epidemiologic study was conducted in 1995 based on multistage sampling with conglomerates. A total of 1377 males from 15 to 49 years of age was in terviewed by means of a structured questionnaire. Statistics such as Studen t's test and chi(2) were applied to determine significance. Results. Subjec t mean age was 17.7 years (SD = 2.8 years) Overall proportion of condom use in the last intercourse was 24.6% depending on the type of partner: 18.8% used it with regular partners and 62.5% with multiple partners. Symptoms su ggesting gonococcal uretritis were found in 2%. Finally, 97.5% understood t he meaning of AIDS and knew some protective measures against infection. Con clusions. Some risky characteristics of sexual behavior were identified con cerning the transmission of STD such as multiple sexual partners, not using condom and STD antecedents.