Use of condoms misreported by young people

By Carolyn Moynihan

Here’s something to be taken into account when claims and counter-claims are being made about the relative importance of abstinence and contraceptive use in the ups and downs of teenage pregnancy and STIs. A study by Eve Rose of Emory University and colleagues conducted among 715 black women and girls ages 15 to 21, who were enrolled in an HIV prevention programme, showed that one third (34 per cent) of those reporting condom use every time they had sex had physical evidence (Y chromosome DNA in vaginal fluid) to the contrary.

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