Asian and Pacific Islander Women Vulnerable to STDs

Asian and Pacific Islander young adults in U.S. are more likely to contract STDs if they are women, have multiple sex partners, or believed an STD diagnosis was inconsequential.

• In the 90’s the Asian and Pacific Islander population in the U.S. increased by 46%. Due to this remarkable population increase, a study was conducted to see how common STDs are in adolescent Asian and Pacific Islanders. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data, researchers found that while only 4 percent of males had ever had an STD, 13 percent of women reported having been told by a doctor or nurse that they had an STD. Of those who had STDs, 31 percent had had sex before age 15 and 55 percent had multiple sex partners in the previous year. The more a respondent believed that STDs were treatable, the greater his/her odds of having one. The more he/she believed that having an STD resulted in negative consequences for a relationship, the lower the odds of having an STD.1

1 Predictors of STDs Among Asian and Pacific Islander Young Adults, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Vol. 39 No. 4 December 2007; pp. 231-239