Self-Protecting Behaviors in College Females

Accent upon Research

According to the National corporation Health Risk Behavior Survey (NCHRBS) (1995) 810% of guild females reported that they had sexual intercourse during their lifetime; 239% of these females have had six or more sexual partners during their lifetime; 668% had been sexually active in the 3 month preceding the survey; and 604% were sexually active in the 30 days preceding the contemplate Approximately 8% of 18-19 year ageds and 11% of 20-24 year of advanced ages have given birth to a child (National Vital Statistics Report INVSR]. 2001) And 428% of females reported that they have been pregnant in their lifetime (NCHRB 1995; Henshaw. 2003; Grunbaum. et al. 2003; Weinstock, Berman & Gates, 2004)

More than half of females and nearly two-thirds of males have had sexual intercourse by dint of their 18th birthday. Those who begin having sex at young ages are generally expos to risk for a longer time, are les likely to use contraception, generally have more sexual partners, and look after to engage in higher risk sexual behaviors of the like kind as multiple concurrent sexual partners (Moore, Miller, Sugland, Morrison. Glei, & Blumenthal. 2001: Grunbaum, et al., 2003)

Effective self-protection requires planning and preparation prior to intercourse. However 35% of first intercourse experiences take place without protection (Moore, et al.. 2001) alone 33.6% of college females reported that their partner used a condom the last time they had intercourse, and solitary 25.1% indicated their partner used a condom the majority of the time.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are the greatest in quantity common infectious diseases in the United States today affecting young adults. Nearly two-thirds of all STD come into view in people younger than 25 years of age, and sexually transmitted diseases keep to be more severe for women Nationwide. 346% of college-aged females have been proofed for HIV infection. Two-thirds of gonorrhea cases and 90% of all chlamydia cases come into view among persons aged less than 25 years of age (NCHRB 1995) Unfortunately no further studies have been administrationed following the NCHRBS of 1995 and the restrictions imposed by dint of Institutional Review Boards (IRB) make studies of this ilk difficult.

Purpose

The end of this study was to determine the self-protecting behaviors of college-aged females.

Research Questions

The research question for this inquiry was as follows: What are the self-protecting behaviors of college-aged females?

Design and Setting

A nonexperimental, descriptive design was used in this inquiry The setting of this inquiry was a regional university in the southern with an enrollment of approximately 9000 scholars To be eligible for the close attention the participant must have been a female, 18 from one side 25 years of age who presented to participate and complete the questionnaire.

Instrument for Data Collection

The tool used for data collection was the Self-Protective Behavior Questionnaire designed through the researcher. This tool sought demographic information as follows: age. martial status, and last year of place of education completed. Additionally questions sought information about participants' sexual activity, history of sexually transmitted diseases and testing for these diseases, pregnancy history, and use of birth rule Finally, there were eight short answer questions concerning the following: number of sexual partners and impressed signs of protection used.

Data Collection courses

The research was approved by means of the IRB at the institution. All approved operations were followed. The researcher established a table and private booth in the learner center for data collection. As learners approached the table, volunteers were solicited to participate in the overlook Respondents completed the questionnaires in individual of six booths provided to make sure privacy. The completed questionnaires were deposited through the respondents in a sealed receptacle and the data were carryed in the box to a separate location. solitary the researchers reviewed the raw data.

Result

The respondent mean age was 204 years (SD = 157 years). Marital status included 89 (957%) who were single and 4 (43%) who were married. The mean horizontal of completed education was 1401 years (SD = 13 years).

Of all respondent 58 (624%) reported that they had been sexually active. Of those respondent who were sexually active 34 (586%) said they had multiple partners since becoming active. In addition 26 (448%) reported that they had been trialed for sexually transmitted diseases, and 14 (241%) reported they had been ordealed for HIV/AIDS. Four (6.8%) reported a sexually transmitted disease. Six (103%) said they had been pregnant while 28 (482%) said they musing they might have been pregnant at a certain number of time.

In the sexually active clump 37 (63.7%) said their partner had used a condom the last time they had intercourse, and 21 (3621%) said their partner had not. The participants answered as follows: 25 (43.1%) had taken oral contraceptives, 38 (655%) had used a condom and 2 (34%) used no way to prevent pregnancy. When asked to identify impressed signs of self-protecting behaviors 34 (586%) said they had taken oral contraceptives and 50 indicated (862%) said they had used a condom while 11 (172%) reported using another manner Nearly one third indicated there were no risks with self- protecting behaviors.