Alcohol use, cigarette smoking, vaping and number of sexual partners: A cross-sectional study of sexually active, ethnically diverse, inner city adolescents
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Context
There are few UK data on the prevalence and clustering of risky behaviours in ethnically diverse adolescents.
Objectives
To investigate the prevalence of reported alcohol use, smoking and vaping, and explore whether these behaviours are associated with increased numbers of sexual partners.
Design
Questionnaire survey of ‘Test n Treat’ chlamydia screening trial participants.
Setting and participants
Sexually active students attending six London technical colleges completed confidential questionnaires and provided genitourinary samples.
Results
The median age of the 509 participants was 17 years (IQR: 16‐18), 47% were male, 50% were of black ethnicity, 55% reported ≥2 sexual partners in the past year (67% of males and 45% of females) and 6.2% had chlamydia infection and 0.6% gonorrhoea. Almost half (48%) reported getting drunk in the past month, 33% smoked cigarettes and 7% had ever vaped.
A larger percentage of students with ≥2 sexual partners than 0‐1 partners reported getting drunk in the past month (53.7%, 144/268% versus 42.2% 94/223, adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.33, 95% confidence interval: 1.11‐1.61) and smoking cigarettes (36.6%, 100/273% versus 30.2%, 67/222, 1.34 (1.05‐1.70)). By contrast, multiple sexual partners were not associated with vaping or chlamydia infection, but numbers were small.
Conclusions
We found high prevalences of risky behaviour and an association between multiple sexual partners and smoking and/or getting drunk. Findings support the introduction of compulsory sex and relationship education in UK secondary schools, including information about the adverse effects of alcohol and smoking.
Public contribution
Participants helped with study design, conduct and interpretation.
There are few UK data on the prevalence and clustering of risky behaviours in ethnically diverse adolescents.
Objectives
To investigate the prevalence of reported alcohol use, smoking and vaping, and explore whether these behaviours are associated with increased numbers of sexual partners.
Design
Questionnaire survey of ‘Test n Treat’ chlamydia screening trial participants.
Setting and participants
Sexually active students attending six London technical colleges completed confidential questionnaires and provided genitourinary samples.
Results
The median age of the 509 participants was 17 years (IQR: 16‐18), 47% were male, 50% were of black ethnicity, 55% reported ≥2 sexual partners in the past year (67% of males and 45% of females) and 6.2% had chlamydia infection and 0.6% gonorrhoea. Almost half (48%) reported getting drunk in the past month, 33% smoked cigarettes and 7% had ever vaped.
A larger percentage of students with ≥2 sexual partners than 0‐1 partners reported getting drunk in the past month (53.7%, 144/268% versus 42.2% 94/223, adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.33, 95% confidence interval: 1.11‐1.61) and smoking cigarettes (36.6%, 100/273% versus 30.2%, 67/222, 1.34 (1.05‐1.70)). By contrast, multiple sexual partners were not associated with vaping or chlamydia infection, but numbers were small.
Conclusions
We found high prevalences of risky behaviour and an association between multiple sexual partners and smoking and/or getting drunk. Findings support the introduction of compulsory sex and relationship education in UK secondary schools, including information about the adverse effects of alcohol and smoking.
Public contribution
Participants helped with study design, conduct and interpretation.
Date Issued
2021-03-28
Date Acceptance
2021-02-27
Citation
Health Expectations, 2021, 24 (3), pp.1009-1014
ISSN
1369-6513
Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Start Page
1009
End Page
1014
Journal / Book Title
Health Expectations
Volume
24
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000633862300001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
adolescents
alcohol
cigarette smoking
risky behaviours
sexual lifestyles
vaping
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-03-28