Family Practice Vol. 20, No. 1, 93
© Oxford University Press 2003
Correspondence |
Contraceptive use by medical students whilst on holiday
St George’s Hospital Medical School London SW17 0RE UK
Please send correspondenc to Helen Finney, 7 Alston Road, Tooting, London SW17 0TT.
Tehrani et al.1 found that educational level of women and their husbands was related to contraceptive use in Tehran. They found that 56% of illiterate women and 70% of women who had attended higher education used contraceptive methods before their latest pregnancy.1 In May 2002, we conducted a questionnaire survey of second-year medical students attending a lecture at St George’s Hospital Medical School. The aim was to investigate how many students had had sexual intercourse with a new partner whilst on holiday, and how many always used condoms.
The response rate was 84% (100/119). The mean age of the respondents was 21 years (range 19–29). Fifty-eight per cent (58/100) of the respondents were female, and 32% (27/85) of respondents had had sexual intercourse with a new partner whilst on holiday. The average number of partners on one holiday was three (range 1–10). Fifty-six per cent (15/27) of respondents always used a condom. This was 80% (8/10) in females and 41% (7/17) in males. The main reason for not using a condom was that the woman was, or was thought to be, taking the oral contraceptive pill.
Tehrani et al. state that the risk of not using contraceptive methods will decrease by increasing the woman’s education level, and that contraception usage in women with more educated husbands was higher than for those with less educated husbands.1 In our small survey, overall condom usage during high-risk sex seemed low for a group of people at a high education level, especially for males. In order to increase the rate of condom usage and therefore decrease the number of sexually transmitted infections caught whilst on holiday, GPs and practice nurses should routinely give advice on safer sex when providing young people with travel information and immunizations.
References
1 Tehrani FR et al.Factors influencing contraceptive use in Tehran. Fram Pract 2001;18: 204–208
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