Young Adults May Be More Likely to Have an Acute STD Diagnosis, New Stats Show

Self Magazine

by Anna Maltby


John Dolan
John Dolan


We hope that you guys are using protection when you're in between the sheets. Whether you're having a crazy one-night stand or are involved in a serious, monogamous relationship, it's important to know the health risks of getting it on -- and keep things as safe. New statistics, released by Practice Fusion, an electronic health record system used in doctor's offices (so they have access to info on lots of real patient diagnoses), show that young adults ages 18-25 are 14 times more likely to have an acute STD diagnosis, including chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea, than adults 26 and older.


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Yikes! Other findings:

* Adult women are 25 percent more likely to have an acute STD diagnosis than adult males (that's 5 female STD diagnoses for every 4 males)
* 18-25-year-old females are almost twice as likely to have an acute STD diagnosis than their male counterparts

If that sounds crazy and terrifying, keep a couple of things in mind: First, all those stats are just relative risk (aka the risk compared to other peoples' risks). The actual numbers behind those STDs? According to the CDC, about 0.5% of the population will have a chlamydia diagnosis this year, 0.1% will get diagnosed with gonorrhea, and 0.005% will learn they have syphilis. That ain't nothin', but it's not a ton, either.

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And second, young women tend to be better at taking care of themselves -- and getting medical treatment -- than are men. One CDC report found that 81.3 percent of women 19-25 saw a doctor in the last 12 months versus only 58.5 percent of men. We're guessing a good chunk of men aren't getting diagnosed not because they don't have an STD, but because they don't see docs as often as we do. (After all, where are all these ladies getting STDs from?!)

Finally, even if all of that isn't super comforting, know that you can be smart about sex and do quite a bit to avoid STD transmission: Get tested frequently, don't be afraid of asking new partners to get tested, and use a condom every time.

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