How can university sexual health promotion events reach those most at risk? A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The rate of notifications of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in Australians has increased dramatically, especially in those aged 16–30 years. This age bracket, typical of university students, is the most likely to report multiple sexual partners in the previous year. Individuals who have sex with multiple partners in a year have a significantly increased chance of contracting an STI, making them an important audience for sexual health promotion. This study aimed to determine how university sexual health promotion events can better reach this higher-risk subset of the population. Methods: Two anonymous cross-sectional surveys were used to understand current and ideal sexual health promotion events through the perspectives of student leaders (n = 62) and general university students (n = 502). Results: Students who had more than one sexual partner in the previous year (the higher-risk group) made up 22.7% of the students sampled. Higher-risk students differed substantially from lower-risk students in terms of preferred event types, incentives and topics to be covered, often prioritising those rarely used in current university sexual health events. Conclusion: While current university sexual health events include some features that align with student priorities, elements beyond sexual health information, such as social activity, alcohol incentives and on-site sexual health testing, can be helpful tools to attract students with higher numbers of sexual partners.