# Contraceptive Awareness and Its Usage Practices Among Adults Using Online Dating Apps in Chennai, Tamil Nadu: A Cross-Sectional Study

## TL;DR

This study examines contraceptive use and sexual health practices among online dating app users in Chennai, finding a 67% contraceptive usage rate linked to factors like socioeconomic status and healthcare consultation.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into contraceptive practices and STI testing behaviors among online dating app users in a specific regional context.

## Key findings

- Contraceptive usage prevalence among online dating app users was 67%.
- Higher socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption, and healthcare consultation were associated with contraceptive use.
- 13.3% of participants had never been tested for STIs.

## Abstract

Introduction

Online dating apps have become pivotal for adults to find relationships, explore their sexual desires, and overcome loneliness. These users sometimes indulge in reckless and unsafe sexual practices, which may lead to unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), thus emphasizing the importance of contraceptive use.

Methodology

This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 study participants in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Study participants were selected by the snowball sampling technique. A pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data and was analyzed using MS Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States) and IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21 (Released 2012; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States).

Results

The prevalence of contraceptive usage among online dating app users was found to be 67%. Factors like upper/upper-middle socioeconomic class (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.56; p = 0.048), alcohol consumption (AOR: 1.85; p = 0.026), and consulting healthcare professionals (AOR: 1.96; p = 0.026) were associated with contraceptive use. Also, 36 (13.3%) of the study participants had never been tested for STIs.

Conclusion

This study highlights that a relatively high prevalence of contraceptive usage and also higher socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption, and consulting healthcare professionals are associated with the use of contraceptives. Though the prevalence of contraceptive usage is high, there are some participants who did not consult healthcare professionals and have never been tested for STIs. These findings can help to plan better awareness programs and sexual health practices.