CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Young U.S. black adults are more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease than young white adults, even when they engage in safer behavior.
The study, published online in the American Journal of Public Health, found that African-Americans ages 18 to 26 engaging in low-risk behavior -- no sex in the past year and little or no alcohol and drug use -- are nearly 25 times more likely to be infected than whites engaging in the same behavior.
Young African-Americans who have few sex partners and low alcohol and drug use in a year are seven times more likely to be infected than whites with the behavior, according to study author Denise Hallfors, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation Chapel Hill Center.
The survey of 8,706 participants found that young African-American adults generally engage less in risky behavior that could result in the transmission of STDs. Additionally, condom use among blacks is more than 50 percent, while it's only one-third for young whites.
However, because the prevalence of STDs is so much higher among young African-American adults, the risk of coming in contact with someone with an STD is exponentially greater, says Hallfors.
