Adolescent male sexual behavior and consistent condom use in La Romana, Dominican Republic

To describe sexual behaviors and condom use among young males from La Romana, Dominican Republic.

We surveyed young males about their sexual behavior, recent sexual activity, and condom use. The categories of self-reported condom use were: >90 %=consistent use; between 10 % and 89 %=inconsistent use; <10 %=never used condom.

A total of 358 young males aged 15-24 years participated (median age 18.9 IQR 17-20); 84 % reported having had intercourse (median age at first sex 13.9 SD 2.5). Of the total, 178 (52 %) reported having sex in the past 30 days, of which 72 (45 %) reported consistent condom use. One-third reported always using condoms in the last 12 months and 121 (36 %) reported discussing contraception before having sex with their last sexual partner. Having sex in the past 30 days was associated with being married (p=0.03), dropping out of school, and having income in the past 12 months (<0.01 each), while consistent condom use was associated with younger age (p=0.05). The largest distribution of participants reporting consistent condom use in the past 30 days, past 12 months, and talking about contraception before having sex were participants whose mothers completed 11th grade (79 %, 60%, and 49 %).

Our study presents young male's sexual behaviors similar to other countries in Latin America, emphasizing the importance of the mother's level of education in the patterns of sexual behavior among young males, and indicating possible topics for educational programs designed for Dominican male youth.