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Condom use as a function of time in new and established adolescent sexual relationships
J Dennis Fortenberry1, Wanzhu Tu, Jaroslaw Harezlak
1Section of Adolescent Medicine, Division of Biostatistics, and the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA. jfortenb@iupui.edu
Objectives:
This study sought to describe condom use over time in new and established adolescent relationships.
Methods:
The outcome variable was time (in days) until first unprotected coital event. Analyses involved comparisons of Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards models.
Results:
Survival functions for the 2 relationship groups were significantly different. However, by 21 days the curves had converged: 43% of new and 41% of established relationships involved no unprotected coital events. Time to first unprotected coital event was significantly longer in new than in established relationships.
Conclusions:
Prolongation of condom use in ongoing relationships may be a useful intervention to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.