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. 2021 Jun;24(3):1009-1014.
doi: 10.1111/hex.13248. Epub 2021 Mar 28.

Alcohol use, cigarette smoking, vaping and number of sexual partners: A cross-sectional study of sexually active, ethnically diverse, inner city adolescents

Rosalie Bartholomew Dr  1 , Sarah Kerry-Barnard  1 , Nicholas Beckley-Hoelscher Dr  2 , Rachel Phillips  3 , Fiona Reid  2 , Charlotte Fleming  1 , Agata Lesniewska  1 , Freya Yoward Dr  1 , Pippa Oakeshott  1
Affiliations

Alcohol use, cigarette smoking, vaping and number of sexual partners: A cross-sectional study of sexually active, ethnically diverse, inner city adolescents

Rosalie Bartholomew Dr et al. Health Expect. 2021 Jun.

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.

Keywords: adolescents; alcohol; cigarette smoking; risky behaviours; sexual lifestyles; vaping.

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Conflict of interest statement

Pippa Oakeshott is a member of the NIHR South London Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, and of the eSTI 2 consortium funded under the UKCRC Translational Infection Research Initiative. Fiona Reid is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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