Sexual behaviour of adolescent boys -- a cause for concern.

A study examines the sexual behavior and level of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) of unmarried adolescent boys from 8 randomly selected villages of the Anand taluka in Gujarat, India. A house to house survey was conducted on all unmarried and sexually active males who were interviewed with the help of structured and pretested questionnaires. These questionnaires consisted of questions on their sexual practices; awareness of STDs and AIDS; and knowledge of proper condom use. Results revealed that from a total sample of 178 adolescent boys the mean age at first coitus was 18.01 years, and in over 87% of the cases a prostitute was the first sexual contact. About 82 of the sample population (46%) had not heard of AIDS and 34% had no knowledge of other sexually transmitted diseases. About 67 boys (37.6%) had never seen a condom and only 9 (5.05%) had ever used one. The mean knowledge score about correct condom use was only 1.44 on a 10-point scale and was found to be associated with the economic status of the subject population, the type of sexual partner, and the educational status of the parents.