AIDS Risk Reduction Strategies Among United States and Swedish Heterosexual University Students

Attitudes toward sex and condoms in the U.S. are more negative and less monolithic than in Sweden. We investigated the possible effect of this on AIDS prevention strategies by comparing women and men who were heterosexual university students in the two countries (Sweden: n = 570; U.S.: n = 407). Using self-administered questionnaires, subjects were asked about their sexual activities, safer sex practices, numbers of partners, and condom use. American students took a more multifaceted approach to safer sex — combining changes in sexual activities, reductions in casual sex, and increased condom use with both steady and nonsteady partners. Swedish students took a more singular approach — consistently using condoms with nonsteady partners. It is suggested that the difference in Swedish practices results from fundamental differences in sexual attitudes between the countries.     

《广州中医药大学学报》20年回顾

回顾《广州中医药大学学报》创刊的背景、办刊的特点和办刊的成效,体会到《广州中医药大学学报》20年来办刊一直坚持的三个重要定位——中医特色、学术前沿性和编辑规范性,正是该刊遵循办刊规律的具体体现,是该刊能够一步一个脚印地提高信息的传播效能,扩大刊物影响力的重要原因。     

Reproductive health: knowledge and opinions of university students in Erzurum,Turkey

Background: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge of reproductive health and the opinions of university students towards reproductive health education and family planning services. Methods: A questionnaire about reproductive health knowledge and the opinions of students was submitted to 673 systematically and randomly selected students at Ataturk University. A set of 39 questions was used to determine the level of knowledge of reproductive health. Results: The level of reproductive health knowledge was below the theoretical mean value. An association was found between gender, residential area, parents' education and sibling number with the reproductive health knowledge score. Most of the students approved of formal reproductive health education (88.4%). Approval of family planning services was lower than that of reproductive health education (71.6%). The percentage of men who support family planning services and reproductive health education was lower than that of women. Students who had graduated from Islamic religious schools had more negative opinions towards family planning services. Conclusions: University students lack knowledge about reproductive health and most of them agree that reproductive health education should be given in schools. Knowledge about reproductive health differs significantly depending on some sociodemographic variables. Some students have negative opinions towards family planning services and reproductive health education.     

Why do university students use hormonal emergency contraception?

Objectives: To establish why university students in Finland, who have easy access to well-affordable health services, still use hormonal emergency contraception. Method: All students who sought emergency contraception in the Tampere Student Health Station during the period from 1 September 2000 to 31 December 2001 received a questionnaire on their use of it. Of the total, 114 (67%) were returned. Results: Two-thirds of respondents experienced condom failure, and the remainder used no contraception. In open answers, respondents gave many explanations as to why they had used no contraception, e.g. having been over-passionate or drunk. Conclusion: Finnish students use emergency contraception, but to no great extent. Our results indicate that service providers should pay attention to sexual health in the full sense but not omit to give detailed advice on condom use during counselling.     

The development and evaluation of a manualised participatory HIV/AIDS risk reduction programme (Sex and Risk) for tertiary level learners: a pilot study

This paper reports on a pilot study of the development and evaluation (using outcome and process measures) of a manualised participatory risk reduction programme, aimed at reducing high-risk sexual behaviour amongst tertiary level learners, called 'Sex and Risk' (S&R), at the University of Durban-Westville 1 in South Africa. The programme was grounded in a focused ethnographic study of the risk behaviours and life context of tertiary level learners at this institution, as well as informed by literature on successful behavioural risk reduction programmes on Western and African populations. Significantly, the S&R programme was shown to facilitate greater awareness in males of how social influences inform high-risk sexual behaviour. This greater awareness did not, however, translate into greater self-efficacy in relation to negotiating safer sexual relationships for either males or females and was attributed to the dominant social norms, which promote and sustain gender inequity that places the sexual health of young women and men at risk. Given that the S&R programme operates largely at the level of the individual, although it does address the subjective aspects of social influences on behaviour, these findings highlight the need for proximal situation-centred interventions, which promote more egalitarian social norms in sexual relationships, to accompany such curriculum interventions at tertiary institutions.