Adolescent sexual behaviour and its determinants: A hospital-based study

AIM: To know the prevalence of sexual activity, their sexual behaviour and attitude towards sex among unmarried adolescent females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a hospital-based prospective observational study. The study duration was 1 year. The study participants were unmarried girls between the age group of 10–19 years who gave written informed consent. In the case of a minor, consent was obtained from parents also. Pre-designed, pre-structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to evaluate the sexual behaviour. RESULTS: Out of the 320 adolescents presented to the OPD, only 165 consented to participate in the study. Prevalence of sexual activity was 16.9% (28/165) in the study. Eight (8/165) adolescent girls have not attained menarche and all were not having any knowledge of sex. Three girls were the victims of sexual exploitation. Around 64% of these girls were sexually active with their classmates. All the sexually active females were having intercourse through the vaginal route, however non-vaginal route was also practiced by 6 girls. Home (11, 39%) was the preferred place followed by the hotel (10, 35.7%) for sexual activity. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of sexual activity is low among Indians as compared to the western world but it may be a tip of iceberg as it is a hospital-based study. This is the first study that assessed the route of intercourse, frequency of sexual activity, and place preferred by these adolescents to evaluate the sexual health behaviour.