Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #107338

Christine J. De Rosa, PhD¹, Kathleen A. Ethier, PhD², Deborah H. Kim, MPH¹, Jamila Small, MPH¹, Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH³, Ric Loya⁴, and Peter Kerndt, MD, MPH⁵. (1) Health Research Association, 1111 N. Las Palmas Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038, 323-957-4140, cderosa@hra-paramount.org, (2) Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop E44, Atlanta, GA 30303, (3) Health, RAND Corporation, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405, (4) Health Education Programs, Los Angeles Unified School District, KPMG Building, 355 South Grand Avenue, 10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071, (5) Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Sexually Transmitted Disease Program, 2615 So. Grand Avenue Rm 500, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Purpose: Condom Availability Programs (CAP) in schools provide a unique opportunity for interaction with sexually active adolescents to provide information about sexual health. However, programs are often not well promoted or utilized. The current analyses examine utilization of CAPs in six urban high schools, whether students receive prevention materials, and the relationship between CAP use and sexual risk behavior and health service utilization.

Methods: The current sample includes 584 primarily Latino (77.5%) and African-American (17.3%) high school students recruited from six public schools in Los Angeles. Data were collected through self-administered classroom-based surveys.

Results: 55.5% of students did not know that their school had a CAP. Among sexually experienced students (n=293), 23.9% had used the CAP. Students who used the CAP reported receiving information about how to use a condom (55.7%), preventing STDS (54.3%), preventing pregnancy (67.1%), condom effectiveness (55.7%), condom failure (50.0%) and abstinence (31.4%). Sexually experienced CAP users were more likely to participate in other school activities (OR=2.5, 95% CI= 1.23-4.87), to have gotten reproductive health care (OR=3.2, 95% CI= 1.57-6.63), and to have been screened for STD (OR=3.2, 95% CI= 1.45-6.94). There was no difference in sexual risk behaviors between CAP users and non-users.

Conclusions: Less than half of students knew about the CAP at their school and less than a quarter of sexually experienced students had used the CAP. Fewer than two-thirds of CAP users recalled receiving prevention information. CAPs can provide an important conduit to reproductive health care and STD screening.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe participation in a school-based Condom Availability Program;
• Discuss potential improvements to CAPs

Keywords: Adolescent Health, School-Based Health Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation