Very young millennials and sexuality yes to protect themselves but unclear ideas about the risks and poor cons
Very young people, millennials, and sexuality: yes to protection, but unclear ideas about risks and low awareness of Papillomavirus
At age 17.1 first full sexual intercourse, 92.9% are always careful to avoid pregnancy, 74.5% protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections, 70.7% use condoms, but 17.6% believe they protect themselves from disease by using birth control pills. For 73% Hpv vaccination is also useful for males, two out of three of those who know about Hpv know about the possibility of getting vaccinated to prevent a disease that can cause cancer.
Yes to contraception, but with some confusion. 43.5% of young Italians between the ages of 12 and 24 have already had full sexual intercourse. The share rises to 79.2 percent among 22-24-year-olds. The average age at first sexual intercourse is 16.4 years, 17.1 years is the average age at first full intercourse. 92.9% of those who have had full sex say they are always careful to avoid pregnancy, but a smaller proportion (74.5%) always protect themselves to avoid infection and sexually transmitted diseases.
The distinction between contraception and prevention is not always clear among young people. 70.7% use condoms as a means of prevention, but 17.6% say they use the birth control pill, wrongly placing it among prevention tools rather than means of contraception. This is the finding of a survey conducted by Censis on the sexuality of millennials and the very young with the unconditional support of Sanofi Pasteur-MSD and distributed by MSD Italy.
Important role of media in information, then comes school. Almost all young Italians aged 12-24 (93.8%) have heard of sexually transmitted infections and diseases. Only 6.2% have never heard of it, share rising to 18.7% among very young 12-14 year olds. Aids is the disease that is mentioned the most (89.6%).
Only 23.1% indicate syphilis, 18.2% candida, 15.6% Papillomavirus, and percentages between 15% and 13% gonorrhea, hepatitis, and genital herpes. 31.1% know or have heard of at least 3 infections and diseases, 31.4% know 4 to 6, 37.5% know more than 6. Among the sources of information on sexually transmitted infections, the role of the media (TV, magazines, internet) is predominant, used by 62.3%. Then the contribution of schooling is recognized as significant (53.8%), but with significant differences between different geographic areas of the country: ranging from over 60% in the North to 46.1% in the Center and 47.9% in the South.
Only 9.8 percent cite health professionals such as family physicians, medical specialists and pharmacists.
Papillomavirus information still inadequate. 63.6% of young Italians aged 12-24 have heard of human papillomavirus (Hpv). Among girls, the rate rises to 83.5%, while among males it drops dramatically to 44.9%. With respect to modes of transmission of Hpv, most cite complete sexual intercourse (81.8%), but a smaller share know that Hpv can also be transmitted through non-complete sexual intercourse (58%). For 64.6 percent, condoms are a sufficient tool to prevent transmission of the virus, but only 17.9 percent are aware that it is not possible to eliminate the risks of infection if one is sexually active.
80.0% of those informed of the existence of Hpv know that it is a virus responsible for several cancers, especially cervical cancer; 62.4% know that it is a virus that causes several diseases of the genital system, both benign and malignant but very often remains completely asymptomatic; 37.1% know instead that Hpv is responsible for cancers that also affect men, such as anogenital cancers. Finally, 33.0% think that this virus affects only women and 26.4% know that it is a virus responsible for genital condylomas.
Yes to Hpv vaccination, even for boys. 70.8% of 12- to 24-year-olds who have heard of Hpv know that there is a vaccine against Papillomavirus, particularly girls (79.8% compared with 55% of boys). It is the youngest who are most frequently aware of it (84.4% among 12-14 year olds and 85.1% among 15-17 year olds), probably due to NHS vaccination campaigns. Most young people believe that vaccination protects against very dangerous diseases (72.3%). 73% think that vaccinating even boys is a useful strategy to reduce the risk of infection (75% of boys and 70.9% of girls think so).
Only a small share indicate that they do not trust the vaccine because of the side effects it may lead to (15.8%), because they mistakenly believe the protection lasts for a short time (12.1%), because it does not eliminate the need for pap smears (12.1%).
“Sexually transmitted infections constitute a set of widespread diseases that affect millions of individuals, each year, worldwide. They have a major impact at both the individual and public health level and, among other things, promote the acquisition and transmission of HIV,” he said Ranieri Guerra, Director General of Health Prevention, Ministry of Health. “The new National Vaccine Prevention Plan 2017-2019 and the Ministerial Decree on the new Lea provide for Hpv vaccination in 11-year-old girls and the introduction of Hpv vaccination in 11-year-old boys, marking a significant advance over the previous scenario”. “Insufficient knowledge about these infections and how to prevent them is among the main problems,” said Andrea Lenzi, Professor of Endocrinology, La Sapienza University of Rome. “Most of the information that young people have is in fact derived from friends, followed by the media and social networks, leaving room for a lot of junk on the web. Speaking of Papillomavirus and males, for example, boys often do not suspect at all that they may be carrying an infection that can also cause cancer.”. “Our AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections hotline receives over 1.000 calls per month, of which only 10% come from young people (15-24 years old), who turn out to have little correct information about the prevention of these diseases and think they are a problem related to certain segments of the population and not caused by risky behaviors,” said Walter Ricciardi, ISS President. “This recalls the importance of activating information channels designed specifically for young people, to protect their health, their fertility, their future.”. “The teens and young millennials we surveyed move through a world inundated with increasingly easily accessible sexual images and content, on average at age 17 they start having sex and have bridged the traditional differences between boys and girls. Yet about 50 percent say they have doubts about sexuality,” she says Ketty Vaccaro, Head of the Welfare and Health area of Censis. “While they also largely claim to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections, they are not always aware of the risks they run.
Girls have more knowledge about the Papillomavirus and the possibility of prevention based on vaccination, but all are largely in favor of extending it to boys”.
These are the main findings of the research study “Knowledge and Prevention of Papillomavirus and Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Young People in Italy,” conducted by Censis, which was presented today in Rome by Ketty Vaccaro, Head of the Welfare and Health Area of Censis, and discussed by Emilia Grazia De Biasi, Ranieri Guerra, Walter Ricciardi, Andrea Lenzi, Nicoletta Luppi and Annalisa Manduca.
