The Association Between Condom Use and Needle Injection on HIV Testing in U.S. High School Students

Shady Al-Sayyed, The University of Texas School of Public Health

Abstract

This study conducted a secondary data analysis of the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey for 2015 to explore the associations between condom use at last intercourse, drug injections and HIV testing. The study found that 17.4% of students who have even had sex reported getting an HIV test. Moreover, 59.9% of those who had sex used a condom at their last intercourse. Whereas, 1.4% of students reported having ever injected themselves with illegal drugs, and out of them only 35.9% reported getting an HIV test. After adjusting for race/ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, and the interaction of condom use and sex, a significant association between HIV testing and condom use at last intercourse was found. Compared to students who reported never having sex before, those who had sex and used a condom the last time had an odds ratio of 3.59 (95% C.I.: 2.82, 4.57) of getting an HIV test, whereas, those who had sex and did not use a condom had an odds ratio of 5.95 (95% C.I.: 4.65, 7.60) of getting an HIV test. Additionally, after adjusting for race/ethnicity, sex, and sexual orientation, students who have ever injected an illegal drug needle had an odds ratio of 4.5 (95% C.I.: 2.74, 7.39) of getting an HIV test compared to those who have never injected a drug. The study found results that corroborated with previous research and showed that more public health work is needed to increase the HIV testing rates for high school students. Moreover, sexual orientation was a significant factor in both models. The study showed that the barriers that adolescents and young adults face when it comes to HIV testing need exploring so that the low HIV testing rates of high school students can improve.

Subject Area

Epidemiology

Recommended Citation

Al-Sayyed, Shady, "The Association Between Condom Use and Needle Injection on HIV Testing in U.S. High School Students" (2017). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI10276367.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI10276367

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