By Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun
November 30, 2007
VANCOUVER - Here's the good news: national teen pregnancy rates are falling in Canada, and youths are waiting longer to have sex.
But a new national poll focusing on birth control and the sexual attitudes of young women between 16 and 24 suggests there's still plenty of room for concern when it comes to risky sexual behaviour by youths.
The survey found two-thirds of the women polled said they don't use a condom every time they have sex.One in five girls never use a condom during sex, the poll found, and almost three-quarters (72 per cent) don't take birth control correctly.
The poll, conducted by Leger Marketing, was based on interviews with 600 Canadian women, including 110 in B.C., between Oct. 26 and Oct. 29. The poll sample size has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
For Vancouver-based sexual-health educator Saleema Noon, the survey results aren't all that surprising. "We know that teens are having sex," she said.
Still, Noon said, she is concerned by some of the numbers.
"What I think this study highlights is the [continuing] need for young women to have guidance from educators and other reliable adults in their life," she said.
"I think we've made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot work to do."
For Noon, a private consultant who works with children and teens at the elementary and secondary-school age levels, one of the most worrisome results of the study has to do with young women's confusion over oral contraception.
Of those polled, only a third (28 per cent) of sexually active women who take birth control pills said they take the pill at the same time every day to maximize its effectiveness.
But the remainder said they may skip a pill, or vary their daily schedule to greater or lesser degrees.
More than half of the women polled (54 per cent) said the oral contraceptives they are using don't work well with their bodies, and would be open to switching to a cheaper brand of birth control pill. Seventy-one per cent said they are not committed to their brand and would consider switching if their pharmacist suggested it.
With the possibility of generic-brand oral contraceptives looming on Canada's horizon, Noon said those numbers set off alarm bells for her.
"One reason why we would worry about young women taking generic birth control pills at this point is because it may not have the same side-effect profile as a brand name, and, also, it hasn't been subjected to the rigorous testing (that brand-name pills undergo)," she said.
"It's your choice, it's your body. You have a right to specifically ask for that brand name," she said.
Noon said there are several low-dose brand-name birth-control pills on the market now, and they can be obtained at generic-brand prices, or even for free, through the non-profit group Options for Sexual Health (formerly Planned Parenthood) or youth health clinics across the province.
Noon said poll results showing that some women are still not insisting their partners use condoms are also a source of concern.
"I think this study highlights the fact that we still have a lot of teaching to do when it comes to [Sexually Transmitted Infection] prevention," she said.
"AIDS is not [necessarily] what we are worried about," she said. "There are many other STIs that are way more common among teens . . . chlamydia, gonorrhea, human papilloma virus . . . . I try and get teens away from thinking about the big 'A' and focus on things that they are more likely to get but can still have a significant impact on their lives," she said.