Indicators of AIDS Prevention Among Vocational Students in Songkhla

Abstract

The vocational students are sexually active teenagers and also have a risk for contracting HIV infection. To predict and compare sexual behavior between male and female and to find indicators of AIDS prevention, 28-item questionnaires were obtained from 1,527 vocational students in Songkhla province. For the positive indicators, female students had significantly higher percentage (P < 0.05) of tendency in sexual behavior than male students in 2 items ; B1-I have as a purpose of avoiding premarital sex during studying (86.2 % V.S. 40.8 %) and B17-If you will have premarital sex and your partner will not let you use or your partner will not use condom, you will not have sex (54.6 % V.S. 29.9 %). For the negative in dicators, female also had significantly higher percentage (P < 0.05) than male in 3 items; B14-1 would be too embarrassed to carry a condom around with me, even if I kept it hidden (37.5% V.S. 33.5%), B19-You do not know how to use condom (43.6% V.S. 20.2%) and B20-You do not know how to have safe sex (42.4% V.S. 32.6%). And for the mode of experience in risk behavior, male had higher risk than female in all items, but the level of risk behavior declined from low risk to high risk. These indicated that male students will have higher risks in contracting HIV infection than female because of more risks in sexual behavior and the experience in risk behavior. Both of them showed the high level of safe sex education and awareness in AIDS prevention except for the knowledge about condom use and how to have safe sex were quite low in female students. Another concern was the risk behavior if ever put to a test of drug addict that more than 50% of male students responsed “yes”. (Thai J Obstet Gynaecol 1994;6:107-116.)