'What does the phrase "safer sex" mean to you?' Understanding among Glaswegian 18-year-olds in 1990.

Objective: To ascertain what young people in western Scotland understand by the phrase 'safer sex', and the social correlates of this knowledge.
Design: Face-to-face interviews with 18-year-olds participating in the third stage of a longitudinal study of the social patterning of health and illness.
Setting: The Central Clydeside Conurbation in western Scotland.
Participants: Eight hundred and seventy-nine 18-year-olds (416 men and 463 women).
Main Outcome Measures: Reported understanding of the term 'safer sex'.
Results: Eighty-four per cent mentioned condoms, 68% some aspect of choice of partner, and only 2% abstaining from specific sexual activities. Those in more advantaged socio-economic circumstances and with higher levels of education were more likely to have 'better' knowledge (defined as mentioning condom use plus one or more other risk-reduction strategy).
Conclusions: Although knowledge of the routes of transmission of HIV may be reasonably good among the young, knowledge of what professionals mean by 'safer sex' appears less so, particularly among the more deprived sections of the community.