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Table 1 Demographic, sexual knowledge and sexual behaviour profile of sexually active students by student category

From: STI and HIV testing: examining factors that influence uptake among domestic Australian-born, domestic overseas-born and international tertiary students studying in Australia

 

Domestic – Australian-Born (n=2257)

Domestic – Overseas-born (n=373)

International Student (n=445)

P-value*

Age, years n (%)

   

<0.001

 18 – 19

546 (24.2)

94 (25.2)

35 (7.9)

 

 20 – 24

1013 (44.9)

157 (42.1)

210 (47.2)

 

 25 – 29

359 (15.9)

36 (9.7)

124 (27.9)

 

 30+

339 (15.0)

86 (23.1)

76 (17.1)

 

Gender identity n (%)

   

<0.001

 Male

549 (24.4)

118 (31.6)

170 (38.2)

 

 Female

1656 (73.6)

246 (66.0)

270 (60.7)

 

 Non-binary / gender diversea

52 (2.0)

9 (2.4)

5 (1.1)

 

Religion n (%)

   

<0.001

 No religion

1589 (70.4)

223 (59.8)

214 (48.1)

 

 Christian

475 (21.0)

86 (23.1)

86 (19.3)

 

 Buddhism

14 (0.6)

11 (2.9)

30 (6.7)

 

 Islam

5 (0.2)

10 (2.7)

21 (4.7)

 

 Hinduism

6 (0.3)

12 (3.2)

46 (10.3)

 

 Othera

168 (7.4)

31 (8.3)

48 (10.8)

 

Sexual Orientation n (%)

   

<0.001

 Straight

1549 (68.6)

267 (71.6)

347 (78)

 

 Gay

118 (5.2)

15 (4.0)

33 (7.4)

 

 Bisexual

420 (18.6)

74 (19.8)

47 (10.6)

 

 Other / Not sure

170 (7.5)

17 (4.6)

18 (4.0)

 

Living Arrangement n (%)

   

<0.001

 Parents / Family

924 (40.9)

158 (42.4)

21 (4.7)

 

 Partner

579 (25.7)

94 (25.2)

89 (20.0)

 

 Alone

116 (5.1)

22 (5.9)

42 (9.4)

 

 Friends

379 (16.8)

61 (16.4)

148 (33.3)

 

 Campus / Share house / Other

259 (11.5)

38 (10.2)

145 (32.6)

 

Relationship Status n (%)

   

0.037

 Single

832 (36.9)

132 (35.4)

186 (41.8)

 

 Partner – live out

770 (34.1)

145 (38.9)

158 (35.5)

 

 Partner – live in

617 (27.3)

87 (23.3)

97 (21.8)

 

 Other

38 (1.7)

9 (2.4)

4 (0.9)

 

Degree Type n (%)

   

<0.001

 Undergraduate

1882 (83.4)

287 (76.9)

211 (47.4)

 

 Postgraduate

294 (13.0)

59 (15.8)

203 (45.6)

 

 Other

81 (3.6)

27 (7.2)

31 (7.0)

 

Year of Study n (%)

   

<0.001

 First year

774 (34.3)

128 (34.3)

176 (39.6)

 

 Second year

583 (25.8)

88 (23.6)

137 (30.8)

 

 Third year

437 (19.4)

75 (20.1)

93 (20.9)

 

 Fourth year or more

463 (20.5)

82 (22.0)

39 (8.8)

 

Region of Birth n (%)

   

<0.001

 Australia & New Zealand

2257 (100)

0 (0)

1 (0.2)

 

 Eastern Asia

0 (0)

55 (14.7)

122 (27.4)

 

 South-eastern Asia

0 (0)

40 (10.7)

85 (19.1)

 

 Southern Asia

0 (0)

31 (8.3)

80 (18.0)

 

 Northern Europe

0 (0)

118 (31.6)

33 (7.4)

 

 East, West & South Europe

0 (0)

33 (8.8)

34 (7.6)

 

 Northern America

0 (0)

28 (7.5)

40 (9.0)

 

 Africa

0 (0)

44 (11.8)

15 (3.4)

 

 Other

0 (0)

24 (6.4)

35 (7.9)

 

STI test in last 12 months n (%)

   

0.023

 No

1336 (61.5)

238 (66.3)

284 (67.6)

 

 Yes

836 (38.5)

121 (33.7)

136 (32.4)

 

HIV test in last 12 months n (%)

   

0.038

 No

1687 (77.7)

275 (76.6)

302 (71.9)

 

 Yes

485 (22.3)

84 (23.4)

118 (28.1)

 

STI Knowledge mean (SD)

12.2 (2.8)

11.8 (3.1)

10.8 (3.4)

<0.001

HIV Knowledge mean (SD)

10.0 (1.5)

10.1 (1.6)

9.9 (1.9)

0.250

Regular partner SRBS mean (SD)

2.5 (2.0)

2.5 (2.1)

2.1 (2.0)

0.001

Casual partner SRBS mean (SD)

1.3 (2.3)

1.3 (2.3)

1.1 (2.1)

0.619

Regular sex partners last 12 months n (%) b

   

0.182

 0

314 (14.4)

49 (13.5)

73 (17.3)

 

 1

1,439 (65.9)

227 (62.7)

272 (64.5)

 

 2 or more

431 (19.7)

86 (23.8)

77 (18.2)

 

Casual sex partners last 12 months n (%) b

   

0.203

 0

1,403 (64.2)

236 (65.4)

270 (64.0)

 

 1

297 (13.6)

46 (12.7)

73 (17.3)

 

 2 or more

484 (22.2)

79 (21.9)

79 (18.7)

 

Condom use – regular partner vaginal sex n (%) b

   

<0.001

 Never

501 (29.9)

60 (21.6)

60 (20.5)

 

 Sometimes

761 (45.5)

128 (46.0)

125 (42.7)

 

 Always

411 (24.6)

90 (32.4)

108 (36.9)

 

Condom use – casual partner vaginal sex n (%) b

   

0.205

 Never

111 (16.9)

8 (7.8)

21 (17.9)

 

 Sometimes

274 (41.8)

46 (45.1)

47 (40.2)

 

 Always

270 (41.2)

48 (47.1)

49 (41.9)

 

Hormonal contraception used last vaginal sex n (%) b,c

   

<0.001

 No

561 (37.6)

88 (41.5)

141 (61.3)

 

 Yes

932 (62.4)

124 (58.5)

89 (38.7)

 
  1. Region of birth represents UN sub-regions, except for Africa, which combines all African sub-regions and Other, which includes Central America, South America, Caribbean, Melanesia, Polynesia, Western Asia
  2. *p-value tests for significant difference between domestic Australian-born, domestic overseas-born and international students (chi-square test for categorical variables; one-way ANOVA for continuous variables)
  3. aIncludes answer of ‘prefer not to answer’
  4. bNot answered by all participants
  5. cOnly asked to women who reported vaginal sex at last sexual encounter
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