Condom Availability Program in an Inner City Public School: Effect on the Rates of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Infection

Noting high rates of sexual activity and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents, the current study sought to assess whether the initiation of a school-based condom availability program was associated with a decrease in STI rates.

The condom availability program was introduced in Holyoke, Mass. STI rates for 15- to 19-year-olds reported to the state Department of Public Health for the three years before and after the program's start were compared to those for a similar city without such a program, Springfield, Mass.

Holyoke males ages 15-19 posted a 47 percent drop in chlamydia and gonorrhea infection rates combined over the three years after program implementation; Springfield males in this age group had a 23 percent increase in the rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea infection. "The difference in regression slopes in this period was significant (p<.01)," according to the results. Both Holyoke and Springfield females ages 15-19 showed moderate, variable changes in STI rates after 2005; "there was no significant difference in the regression slopes of STIs between Holyoke and Springfield."

"Initiating a condom availability program in a city's high school was associated with a decrease in STI rates for 15- to 19-year-old males but not females," the study authors concluded.

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