Program decreases recurrent STDs in teens (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sexual Awareness for Everyone,or the SAFE, program has shown promise in curbing recurrentbouts of common sexually transmitted diseases among high-riskteenage girls, researchers report.

They found that a group of 14- to 18-year-oldMexican-American and African-American girls who participated inthe SAFE program were less apt to engage in risky sexualbehavior and had a statistically lower incidence of recurrentgonorrhea and Chlamydia infection in the first 6 months andover time, compared with teenage girls in a control group.

The SAFE program also curbed STD reinfection rates andrisky sexual behavior among adult women ages 19 and older inthe study.

"Although not specifically designed for teens, the SAFEintervention worked very well in this high-risk population,"Dr. Andrea Ries Thurman from University of Texas HealthSciences Center San Antonio and colleagues report in thecurrent issue of the medical journal Obstetrics andGynecology.]

As part of the SAFE program, teen girls attendedsmall-group meetings on STD prevention. Sessions includedrole-playing, interactive video, handouts, and group discussionto emphasize a number of preventive strategies such as periodicabstinence, mutual monogamy, correct and consistent use ofcondoms, the importance of taking prescribed STD medication asdirected and avoiding sexual intercourse until finishing themedication, not douching, and seeing their doctor whenever theysuspect an STD infection.

The overall goals of the SAFE program are to haveparticipants recognize their risk for contracting STDsincluding HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, commit to changingtheir risky behavior and acquire the skills needed to besuccessful, Thurman's team explains.

The results showed that the cumulative reinfection rate(0-12 months) was roughly 24 percent among teens in the SAFEprogram compared with 40 percent among teens in the controlgroup who received only 15 minutes of individual STD riskreduction counseling. None of the study teens became infectedwith HIV during the study.

The cumulative reinfection rate was 12 percent among womenages 19 or older in the SAFE program compared with 18 percentamong their counterparts in the control group.

Teenagers as a group had higher rates of STD reinfection(33.1 percent) than adults (14.4 percent), the investigatorsfound, "because the behavior that was most highly andconsistently associated with recurrent infection in teens -unprotected sex with untreated partners - was not sufficientlymodified by the SAFE intervention."

Thurman and colleagues conclude that STD preventioninterventions for teenagers need to "emphasize skills to helpteens ensure their partners are treated or to otherwise refuseintercourse."

SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology, June 2008.