Bartholomew, R; Kerry-Barnard, S; Beckley-Hoelscher, N; Phillips, R; Reid, F; Fleming, C; Lesniewska, A; Yoward, F; Oakeshott, P
(2021)
Alcohol use, cigarette smoking, vaping and number of sexual partners: A cross-sectional study of sexually active, ethnically diverse, inner city adolescents.
Health Expect, 24 (3).
pp. 1009-1014.
ISSN 1369-7625
https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13248
SGUL Authors: Oakeshott, Philippa
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.
Item Type: |
Article
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Additional Information: |
© 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 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: |
adolescents, alcohol, cigarette smoking, risky behaviours, sexual lifestyles, vaping, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1110 Nursing, 1701 Psychology, Public Health |
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: |
Academic Structure > Population Health Research Institute (INPH) |
Journal or Publication Title: |
Health Expect |
ISSN: |
1369-7625 |
Language: |
eng |
Dates: |
Date | Event |
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26 June 2021 | Published | 28 March 2021 | Published Online | 27 February 2021 | Accepted |
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Publisher License: |
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 |
Projects: |
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PubMed ID: |
33774898 |
![](http://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/2745237/img/27842) |
Go to PubMed abstract |
URI: |
https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/113100 |
Publisher's version: |
https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13248 |
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