Sexual Behaviors And Birth Control Use In Collegiate Student-athletes

Abstract

In 2017, the Center for Disease Control reported 2.3 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. Specifically, in sports medicine, collegiate student-athletes (SA) are considered an at-risk population due to the risk-taking behaviors associated with athletics. PURPOSE: To describe birth control (BC) methods used by female and male collegiate SA. METHODS: As part of a larger 5-year study, collegiate SA (n=862; females: n=552; males: n=310; 17-23 years old) from a NCAA Division I institution completed a web-based survey containing a 30-item tool exploring sexual health behaviors. Partial data were used for all descriptive analyses. RESULTS: Over half (n=314, 57.4%) of females reported currently taking oral contraceptives or female hormones prescribed mostly for irregular menses (n=78, 14.3%) or pregnancy control (n=106, 12.3%). Participants reported having vaginal (females=172, 36.8%; males=143, 59.1%), oral (females=191, 40.2%; males=155, 63.3%), and anal (females=5, 1.1%; males=6, 2.7%) intercourse in the past 30 days. Interestingly, many participants reported never using condoms or other protective barriers during oral (n=490, 82.1%) or anal (n=376, 78.3%) sex; however, 33.3% of participants (n=203) stated they always used protection for vaginal intercourse. When exploring their most recent sexual encounter, 60.2% (n=429) of participants reported using a form of BC to prevent pregnancy. The most frequent types of BC included oral contraceptive pills (n=345), male condom (n=327), and “pull out” (n=152). Finally, 10.7% (n=77) of participants reported using emergency contraceptives. Despite the lack of consistent BC use, only 2 individuals reported a pregnancy in the last 12 months, both unintentionally. CONCLUSIONS: Participants reported using oral contraception to prevent pregnancy, but mainly for menstrual dysfunctions. Female SA should be educated on all their BC options as it can affect sport performance. While many of the participants are engaging in sexual activity, the use of protective barrier is less for oral and anal intercourse which could be due to sexual education in the United States. However, the infrequent use of protective barriers, regardless of intercourse type, does pose a threat to a SA health for sexually transmitted infections.