Young People's Sexual Behaviour
Indicator 5

Young people using a condom at last higher risk sex

Core indicator for generalised epidemics
Additional indicator for concentrated epidemics

Definition

Percent of young people (aged 15-24) who have had sex in the last 12 months and used a condom at last sex with a non-marital, non-cohabiting partner, of all young people surveyed

Measurement tools

UNAIDS general population survey; DHS AIDS module; FHI BSS (youth)

What it measures

The indicator differs from Young People's Sexual Behaviour Indicator 3 in that it includes the non-marital partners of young people who are currently married, as well as all reported partners of those who are still single or not in a stable enough relationship to be cohabiting with their partner.

It differs from Sexual Behaviour Indicator 2 in that, for reasons given under Young People's Sexual Behaviour Indicator 3, it includes in the denominator all respondents, rather than just those who report risky sexual activity in the last year.

It should be reported across the 15-24 age range and separately by sex. It may also be reported separately for those aged 15-19, 20-24 and under 15 year, where relevant.

How to measure it

In a general population or targeted youth survey all respondents are asked about their sexual partnerships in the last year. For each partner a young person reports, cohabitation status is established. Where a general population survey is undertaken for people aged 15-49, the data can simply be stratified by age groups to calculate this indicator. The denominator is all young people aged 15-24. The numerator is the percentage of those persons using a condom at last sex with a non-marital, non-cohabiting partner in the last 12 months.

Strengths and limitations

In terms of advocacy, this indicator of young people's sexual behaviour can have powerful effects. Where the indicator shows low levels of condom use with higher risk sex among youth, programmes will need to focus efforts around abstinence after initiation of sexual activity, but primarily on condom use. But there could also be major constraints where programmes do not wish to address youth sexual activity.

Like Young People's Sexual Behaviour Indicator 4, it will capture all unmarried people having sex; the proportion of which will generally be fairly high, especially among men. In addition, it will capture married young people having sex outside of marriage.

The indicator suffers from the same reporting bias problems inherent in surveys asking about sexual behaviour; depending upon the degree of programmes effort saturation and/or existing cultural or religious mores, young people may actually be more willing than adults to report details about their sexual behaviour.

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