According to a study by researchers from CINTESIS/Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), adolescents and young adult men are more sexually active than girls, start their sex lives earlier, and have more partners than adolescents and young women.
Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, this paper is the first grounded on a population-based sample, rather than using schools or institutions.
In this study, 51% of the adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 24 were sexually active. On average, girls had their first sexual intercourse at 16.7 and boys at 16.2, with 22% beginning active sexual life before 16. The average number of sexual partners was 2.2 in a one-year period, and this average was higher among male adolescents and young men.
“Our results show that sex education should reach adolescents before the age of 14, before their first sexual intercourse. The preventive strategies should particularly reach boys, considering that they start their sexual lives earlier and have more sexual partners,” say the researchers, led by Paulo Santos and Carlos Franclim Silva (CINTESIS/FMUP).
Also according to this study, adolescents and young people tend to consider their knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as “adequate”, especially regarding HIV/AIDS infection, HPV (which causes uterine cancer and for which there is already a vaccine for both sexes in the National Vaccination Program) and genital herpes. The degree of knowledge is lower in relation to chlamydia, trichomoniasis and gonorrhea.
In general, sexually active teenagers and young people are better informed about STDs, as are older people and females.
This work shows that “the source of information varies over time among parents, friends, teachers and doctors, and it is important to understand this context for more efficient health education, taking advantage of the best vehicle of information at each moment. Nevertheless, teachers and doctors should play a more visible role”, they say.
In this regard, “professionals will have to leave health institutions to reach out to adolescents, taking advantage of the family environment and classrooms, for example, helping to promote access to primary health care, when necessary.”
Besides Paulo Santos, several researchers from FMUP and CINTESIS Carlos Franclim Silva, Luísa Sá, and Daniel Beirão also authored this study.