Condom use among adolescents

Abstract

The accessibility of condoms to youth was explored through informal interviews among four condom vending machine agents and structured questionnaires delivered to 35 pharmacists. It was presumed that young people would prefer to buy condoms from vending machines rather than pharmacies due to the embarrassment of asking for condoms, declaring that they are sexually active and how society might view them. Agents and pharmacists were asked to give their perceptions on condom use among adolescents. A structured questionnaire was also delivered to an opportunistic sample of youth (N=83) between the ages of 15-19. The sample was made up of 73.5% females and 26.5% males. The themes explored were: sexual activity, condom use, points of purchase and negotiation skills. Findings revealed that 28.9% reported having had sexual intercourse, 33.3% used a contraceptive method at first intercourse and 8.3% actually use condoms regularly. Intention to use condoms were found to be incongruent with actual contraceptive use, despite awareness of STD's/HIVand unwanted pregnancies. As foreign studies suggest awareness alone does not predict behaviour. Religion was found to influence non-sexually active youth from using condoms. Trusting one's partner was found to influence most females from using condoms. Overall, there was agreement between condom vending machine agents, pharmacists and young people for better sex education, which should include discussions on negotiating condom use. It is suggested that further research is undertaken which explores the sexual practices, behaviour and attitudes towards condom use among a younger and more representative sample of adolescents.