[Condom use, number of partners and sexual debut in young people in penile-vaginal intercourse, oral sex and anal sex]. / Uso del preservativo, número de parejas y debut sexual en jóvenes en coito vaginal, sexo oral y sexo anal.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyse condom use, number of sexual partners and age of sexual debut in young people in penile-vaginal intercourse, oral sex and anal sex, to establish a comparison between men and women (first part of the study), and to analyse the differences according to sexual behavior conducted in the three variables (second part of the study). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Ex post facto descriptive study by online survey. A total of 886 young heterosexual people (485 women and 401 men) participated for the first part of the study. For the second part of the study, youngsters who had carried out the three sexual behaviors under study were selected. The premises of two Spanish universities were used to distribute the survey by internet. RESULTS: Women reported a more frequent use condom during oral sex, and men reported to have more sexual partners with whom they perform penile-vaginal intercourse (4.57 vs. 3.80) and oral sex (3.34 vs. 2.65). The average onset age for penile-vaginal intercourse and oral sex was close to 17 years and for anal sex close to 19 years. Frequency of condom use and number of sexual partners were higher in penile-vaginal intercourse and the age of sexual debut was higher in anal sex (men=19.20; women=19.38). CONCLUSIONS: The results support the idea that young people use the condom more to prevent pregnancies than to prevent STD. Moreover, the sexual behaviors follow a pattern of progression in heterosexual young people (from penile-vaginal intercourse to anal sex).