Siriraj Medical Journal (Aug 2002)
Sexual Risk of Adolescent in School
Abstract
There were 2,098 school boys and girls who answered questionnaires aged 11-20 years, 9.1% had had sexual intercourse and 0.3% had become pregnant. About 5.3% of girls and 7.2% of boys were homosexual. There were 37.8% of this group had seen pornographic pictures at their friends' house, 42.7% went to discotheques and 4.9% had experience of drug abuse. Most of them knew of at least one contraceptive method as a result of their teachers' education and the condom was the most popular one. When asked if they had any sexual health problems who would they consult, most of them consulted their parents and friends. Â Â Comparing the group that had had sexual intercourse with the group that had not, the sexual intercourse group had had more experience of pornographic pictures; had attended discotheques and used drugs which was statistical significant (p < 0.05). This result shows that the risks for having sexual intercourse in this group were viewing pornographic pictures, attending discotheques and drug abuse. Â Â Â Sexual intercourse started in the 12-year old group. Increasing age lead to increased discotheque attendance, drug abuse, use of pornographic pictures and increased sexual intercourse. Â Â Â We conclude that sex education should be started at 12 years. Parents and teachers should be both consultant and educator for sexual health and sex education. Well educated boys and girls will be good counselors or consultants for their friends. Drug abuse, pornographic pictures and discotheques were the risk factors for premarital sexual intercourse.