Condom carrying is not associated with condom use and lower prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among minority adolescent females.

BACKGROUND

Most of the studies associated with condom carrying and use have been conducted with adults. Because minority teenage females are particularly at risk for STD/HIV infection, further investigations specifically focusing on this population are warranted.

GOAL: To determine whether observed condom carrying among adolescent females was associated with multiple measures of self-reported condom use, self-reported history of sexually transmitted diseases, and prevalence of biologically confirmed sexually transmitted diseases.

METHODS

For this study, 522 sexually active African American adolescent females were recruited from low-income neighborhoods in Birmingham, Alabama. Measures of self-reported condom use, STD history, and condom carrying were collected. Adolescents were also tested for three prevalent sexually transmitted diseases.

RESULTS

At the time of the assessment, 8% of the adolescents were observed to have a condom with them. Condom carrying was not found to be significantly associated with condom use and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.

CONCLUSION

Condom carrying may not be an important outcome of sexually transmitted disease/HIV prevention programs designed to reduce HIV/sexually transmitted disease risk among adolescent females.