Health seeking and risky sexual behaviors in university students: Discordance an opportunity for intervention

Background –Although more students report adopting a ‘healthy lifestyle', it's generally unknown if that translates into decreased risky sexual activities, or how such attitudes may be utilized for creating effective interventions.

Objective – To determine university student attitudes towards health, health seeking behaviors, and concomitant sexual activity.

Methods – University students were surveyed (2010-2011) concerning their perceived personal health and sexual activity.

Results – 289 valid surveys were received. Participants were 54.3% male, 51.2% white and 32.9% black, mean age of 19.4 years. Overall, 62.4% of males and 48.1% of females reported actively pursuing a healthy lifestyle (STYL; p=0.043), 54.6% and 40.4% ate 15+ healthy meals per week (MEAL; p=0.057), 81.4% and 57.3% performed moderate exercise at least 5X/week (EXER; p<0.000). However, 50.3% males and 47.3% females report ever smoking (no race or gender differences). Smokers were more likely to engage in anal sex (27.9% vs 15.6%; p=0.012; males only: 30.8% vs 10.3%; p=0.002) and less likely to pursue a healthy lifestyle (49.6% vs. 62.3%; p=0.027; males only: 54.4% vs. 71.2%; p=0.036). STYL, MEAL and EXER were not associated with giving/receiving anal sex, condom use frequency, number of oral or vaginal sexual partners, or consideration of CT testing (p>0.050 all).

Conclusions – While the majority of respondents, especially males, report pursuing a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy meals, and exercising, such activities are not associated with concomitant reductions in risky sexual behavior. This disconnect may provide the basis for an educational intervention incorporating sexual health as a component of overall health.