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Abstract #152851

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Philip M. Alberti, PhD and Erum K. Hadi, MPH. Bronx District Public Health Office, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 1826 Arthur Avenue, Suite 100, Bronx, NY 10457, 718 299 3429, palberti@health.nyc.gov

OBJECTIVE: The number of condoms needed or used by any population is not well documented. Our objective was to develop an evaluation standard for the Bronx District Public Health Office's (DPHO) school-based Condom Availability Program (CAP). CAP's aim is to increase condom distribution in an effort to reduce the teen pregnancy rate in the South Bronx (SBX).

PROCEDURE: We based our estimate on Meekers et al's formula that uses the product of three numbers to derive the number of condoms needed in a population: (1) percent sexually active, (2) the proportion using a condom at last sex and (3) the frequency of sex. While local Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data provided statistics (1) and (2) no local data sources included frequency of sex. We substituted National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) proportions adjusted to account for SBX sexual activity and included only male students to avoid double counting.

FINDINGS: An estimated 584,071 (or 65 per sexually active male) condoms are needed annually to protect every intercourse between teens in the SBX. School-specific CAP targets were also calculated. Our estimate provides a concrete target for CAP program leaders, enabling them to monitor the intervention's progress.

LIMITATIONS: Limitations of this methodology are: estimate does not adjust for lost/broken condoms, data used in calculations spans different years (2000 Census, 2002 NSFG, 2005 YRBS) and does not account for population growth and shifts in sexual behaviors. To improve our estimate, we have added frequency of sex question to the 2007 local YRBS.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the importance of condom distribution as a means to decrease teen pregnancy rates
• Recognize the importance of setting evaluation standards for local condom availability programs.
• Calculate the estimated condom need for local populations based on available epidemiologic data.

Keywords: Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Audio (mp3) recording
• Multimedia recording