title: Condom availability program in an inner city public school: effect on the rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sexual activity and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates are high in adolescents. In this study, we sought to determine whether the initiation of a school-based condom availability program was associated with a decrease in STI rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the rates of STIs in 15-19-yr-olds reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the 3 years before and after a condom availability program was introduced in Holyoke, MA, as compared with a similar city, Springfield, MA, which did not have such a program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Holyoke males, aged 15-19 years, showed a 47% decrease in the rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection combined over the 3 years after the implementation of the condom availability program, whereas similar aged males in Springfield had a 23% increase in the rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection. The difference in regression slopes in this period was significant (p < .01). Females, aged 15-19 years, from either Holyoke or Springfield, showed moderate, variable changes in rates of STIs after 2005; there was no significant difference in the regression slopes of STIs between Holyoke and Springfield.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Initiating a condom availability program in a city's high school was associated with a decrease in STI rates for 15-19-yr-old males but not females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baystate Children's Hospital, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Wretzel
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Visintainer
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pinkston Koenigs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012736:Sex Education / Q000379:methods*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult