TY - JOUR T1 - Early sexual debut among young men in rural South Africa: heightened vulnerability to sexual risk? JF - Sexually Transmitted Infections JO - Sex Transm Infect SP - 259 LP - 261 DO - 10.1136/sti.2004.011486 VL - 81 IS - 3 AU - A Harrison AU - J Cleland AU - E Gouws AU - J Frohlich Y1 - 2005/06/01 UR - http://sti.bmj.com/content/81/3/259.abstract N2 - Objective: This report examines early sexual debut (<age 15) among young men in rural South Africa including (1) risk behaviours at first sexual experience, and (2) age at first sex as a predictor of later sexual risk. Methods: Analysis of sexual behaviour data for men 15–24 years (n = 314) from representative cross sectional household survey. Results: 13.1% of 15–24 year old men experienced sexual debut before age 15. Men with sexual debut at less than age 15 were more likely to report risk behaviours at first sexual experience: no condom use (19%), a casual partner (26.8%), and not feeling they had been “ready and wanted to have sex” (19.5%). In multivariate analysis, early sexual debut was strongly associated with ⩾3 partners in the past 3 years (OR = 10.26, p<0.01). Conclusions: Men who initiate sex before age 15 form a distinct risk group in this setting. Specific interventions are needed for young men in the preteen years, before sexual debut. ER -