Sexual behavior and the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in asymptomatic students in Germany and Spain

This study aimed to assess patterns of sexual activity, preventive behavior s, contraceptive use, and the prevalence of chlamydia infection in student populations from two countries. 188 asymptomatic students of the University of Bielefeld, Germany and 590 students of the Navarra Public University, S pain were surveyed using a standardized self-administered questionnaire. Ur ine samples were analyzed by ligase chain reaction technique for chlamydia infection. Compared to German students, Spanish students were less likely t o have more than one sex partner within the last 12 months (OR: 0.62; CI: 0 .46-0.83), to have sexual intercourse more than one time per week (OR: 0.70 ; CI: 0.52-0.93) and to use oral contraceptives (OR: 0.16; CI: 0.10-0.26). They reported a higher use of condoms (OR: 2.93; CI: 2.01-4.27) and were mo re likely to always use condoms with a new sex partner (OR: 2.47; CI: 1.72- 3.53). The prevalence of chlamydia infection was considerably higher in Ger man students (4.8% in females; 2.2% in males) than in Spanish students, whe re no case was found. The higher frequency of sexual activity, a higher eng agement in risk-taking sexual behavior and the lower use of barrier contrac eptives may contribute to the higher prevalence of chlamydia infection in G erman students.