Conductas sexuales de riesgo en estudiantes de noveno y décimo ciclo de la carrera de Medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca, 2024

Abstract

Background: Risky sexual behaviors compromise the health of young adults. Promoting health education is crucial to prevent complications and diseases associated with these behaviors. Objective: To identify risky sexual behaviors in medical students coursing ninth and tenth semester at the University of Cuenca in 2024. Method: A descriptive study was conducted with 116 students. Data was collected through a questionnaire, tabulation and analysis this was performed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 27, employing measures of central tendency, dispersion, frequency, and percentages. Results were presented in simple and contingency tables. Results: The 67.1% of the population are women. Most of the population (88%) is between 22 and 25 years old (mean: 23.65 years ±1.42). 67.2% are from Azuay. About 69.8% are in ninth semester. A total of 97.4% are single. The observed risky sexual behaviors among men were: having 2 or more sexual partners in their lifetime (28.5% vs. 24.1%) and having 2 or more sexual partners in the last 3 months (5.2% vs. 1.7%); among women: not using a condom during the last sexual encounter (35.3% vs. 19%), not using contraceptives (19.8% vs. 6.9%), not getting tested for sexually transmitted infections in the last 12 months (37.9% vs. 15.5%), not getting tested for HIV in the last 12 months (31.9% vs. 18.1%). Conclusions: The young and predominantly single population exhibits specific risky sexual behaviors by gender, highlighting the need for tailored prevention strategies.