Self-identified sexual orientations and high-risk sexual behaviours among Chinese youth

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ..

PURPOSE: High-risk sexual behaviour is a factor affecting the health of sexual minority students, yet few related studies have been completed among Chinese students. This article explores the distribution of sexual minority groups and its association with high-risk sexual behaviours and symptoms of sexually transmitted infections(STIs) among Chinese college students.

METHODS: An internet-based questionnaire was applied, and a sample of 17 966 surveys from 130 Chinese colleges was collected. Based on their self-reports, participants were classified into the following groups: homosexual male or female, heterosexual, bisexual, and sexual orientation unknown. High-risk sexual behaviours were defined as having sexual intercourse before the age of 18 years, having one's sexual debut with a non-regular partner, having had more than four sexual partners before investigation, and having mostly had sexual intercourse without using condoms. Logistic regression models were constructed to analyse the associations.

RESULTS: The proportions of the homosexual males and females, and the bisexual groups were 1.62%, 0.88% and 5.07%, respectively. Homosexual males were more likely to have their sexual debut with a non-regular partner (OR 4.79, 95% CI 3.38 to 6.78), having more than four sexual partners (OR 5.81, 95% CI 4.06 to 8.32), having their sexual debut before the age of 18 years (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.76), and not using condoms for most episodes of sexual intercourse (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.17). Similar associations also existed among homosexual females. A positive association between sexual orientation and having symptoms of STIs (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.18) was found among homosexual males.

CONCLUSIONS: Sexual minority groups among Chinese college students had a greater risk of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviours and having STI symptoms. Future studies and interventions should focus on this population.

Medienart:	E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:	2019
Erschienen:	2019

Enthalten in:	Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2019
Enthalten in:	BMJ sexual & reproductive health - (2019) vom: 14. Aug.

Sprache:	Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:	Liu, Yuning [VerfasserIn] Yang, Minhui [VerfasserIn] Zhao, Chunshan [VerfasserIn] Tan, Shihui [VerfasserIn] Tang, Kun [VerfasserIn]

Links:	Volltext

Themen:	College students High-risk sexual behaviours Journal Article Sexual minority groups Sexual transmitted infections

Anmerkungen:	Date Revised 27.02.2024 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status Publisher

doi:	10.1136/bmjsrh-2018-200150

funding:
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PPN (Katalog-ID):	NLM300234872