A Survey on the Sexual and Contraceptive Behaviors in Chinese Female College Students

The sexuality of college students, a sexually active population, has been drawing the attention of research-ers1]. In China, an increasing number of cases of sexu-ally-infected AIDS has been reported2]. Therefore, it is of great importance to conduct investigation concerning the sexual behaviors of college students. In the past, re-searchers investigated the sexuality in Chinese college students, but no report has been available that especially focused on the sexual behaviors of female col…

A survey on the sexual and contraceptive behaviors in Chinese female college students

Summary To get information in the sexual and contraceptive behaviors in Chinese female college students, a randomized cluster sampling was conducted in colleges and universities in Wuhan Area, China, in terms of types of colleges, subjects (literature, sciences, medicines, art etc), and grades etc. A total number of 2450 questionnaires were distributed, with 2365 questionnaires returned being valid. The return rate of valid questionnaires was 96.6 %. The questionnaire investigation was conducted on a multiple-choice and anonymous basis. Data were input into computer and SPSS12.0 software package was employed for statistical analysis. Among the female students, 1196 had the experiences of hugging and kissing (50.57 %) and 423 (17.89 %) had sexual experiences (sexual intercourse). The first sexual intercourse took place at the age of 19.23±1.74 y. There were significant differences in the sexual experiences among the majors of different subjects, with the rate of sexual experiences in art majors (43.17 %) and high-grade students (34.31 %) being the highest. The causes of the first sexual intercourse included sexual impulse, curiosity, intention to strengthen the relationship or to show loyalty to boyfriend and sometimes violence. While the motives of the sexual intercourse within the past one year before the investigation were to satisfy the sexual needs and to strengthen the relation with their boyfriends. With both first intercourse and sexual experiences within last one year, the partners of the sexual intercourse were mainly their boyfriends (95.7 % and 97.3 % respectively), but the partners also included acquaintances, “one night stand” partners and customers of sex trade. Some of them had multiple sexual partners, with the highest number of the sexual partners being 11. In the first sexual intercourse of the subjects, 44.0 % of them did not take any contraceptive measures; only 16.4 % of them used condoms. In the sexual intercourse within the last one year, only 44.6 % took contraceptive measures every time they had sexual intercourse. Among those who took contraceptive measures, 64.4 % used condoms. Among those who had sexual intercourse, 101 persons got pregnant, with a rate of pregnancy being 4.3 %, accounting for 23.9 % of all who had sexual intercourse. Among those who got pregnant, 78 persons got pregnant once; the others became pregnant more than two times, the highest being 5 times. There were 122 persons who had inflammation of reproductive system, mostly vaginitis. Other conditions included venereal warts and herpes genitalis. It is concluded that the rate of sexual behaviors is high in female college students and there exist promiscuity, unexpected pregnancy and transmission of STD in the students. This project was supported by a grant from the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (No. C1-56).