Objectives: To study the demographics, risk behaviours and morbidity of young long-term international travellers (backpackers) attending a sexual health service in Sydney, Australia.
Methods: Data on new patients were extracted from the Sydney Sexual Health Centre database for the period 1998 to 2006. The sexual risk behaviours and morbidity of the backpackers were compared with other patients of a similar age.
Results: The 5698 backpackers who attended the centre reported higher numbers of sexual partners (three or more partners in the past 3 months, 18% vs 12%, p<0.001) and a greater proportion drank alcohol at hazardous levels (22%) than the comparison group (9%, p<0.001). Rates of consistent (100%) condom use in the past 3 months were low in both backpackers (22%) and the comparison population (19%). Backpackers had higher rates of genital chlamydia infection (7% vs 5%, p<0.001) and reported higher rates of previous sexually transmitted infections (15% vs 10%, p<0.001).
Conclusions: Backpackers should be a priority population for sexual health promotion and access to services.