Socio-demographic characteristics among a sample of Northern adolescents in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada (n=607)†
| Characteristic | Adolescent cisgender girl (n=302) | Adolescent cisgender boy (n=298) | Transgender youth (n=7) | P value* |
| Socio-demographic factors | ||||
| Age in years (mean (SD)) | 14.2 (1.5) | 14.2 (1.4) | 14.0 (1.4) | 0.735 |
| STI knowledge (mean (SD)) | 3.9 (3.6) | 3.0 (2.6) | 4.6 (4.0) | <0.001 |
| Indigenous identity | ||||
| No | 74 (24.5% (19.8% to 29.8%)) | 88 (29.5% (24.4% to 35.1%)) | 1 (14.3% (0.4% to 57.9%)) | 0.166 |
| Yes | 228 (75.5% (70.2% to 80.2%)) | 210 (70.5% (64.9% to 75.6%)) | 6 (85.7% (42.1% to 99.6%)) | |
| LGBQ+ identity | ||||
| Missing | 6 (2.0% (0.7% to 4.3%)) | 2 (0.7% (0.1% to 2.4%)) | – | <0.001 |
| No | 234 (77.5% (72.3% to 82.1%)) | 279 (93.6% (90.2% to 96.1%)) | 1 (14.3% (0.4% to 57.9%)) | |
| Yes | 62 (20.5% (16.1% to 25.5%)) | 17 (5.7% (3.4% to 9.0%)) | 6 (85.7% (42.1% to 99.6%)) | |
| Rural residence | ||||
| No | 82 (27.2% (22.2% to 32.5%)) | 92 (30.9% (25.7% to 36.5%)) | 3 (42.9% (9.9% to 81.6%)) | 0.315 |
| Yes | 220 (72.9% (67.5% to 77.8%)) | 206 (69.1% (63.5% to 74.3%)) | 4 (57.1% (18.4% to 90.1%)) | |
| Alcohol or drug use in past 3 months | ||||
| No | 180 (59.6% (53.8% to 65.2%)) | 212 (71.1% (65.6% to 76.2%)) | 4 (57.1% (18.4% to 90.1%)) | 0.003 |
| Yes | 122 (40.4% (34.8% to 46.2%)) | 86 (28.9% (23.8% to 34.4%)) | 3 (42.9% (9.9% to 81.6%)) | |
| Sexually active | ||||
| No | 233 (77.2% (72.0% to 81.8%)) | 252 (84.6% (80.0% to 88.5%)) | 7 (100% (59% to 100%)) | 0.021 |
| Yes | 69 (22.9% (2.0% to 28.0%)) | 46 (15.4% (11.5% to 20.0%)) | – | |
| Sexual practices, risk and protective factors among sexually active youth | ||||
| Age in years (mean (SD)) | 15.3 (2.0) | 15.6 (1.4) | – | 0.366 |
| STI knowledge (mean (SD)) | 5.8 (4.0) | 3.8 (3.0) | – | 0.006 |
| Number of sexual partners (mean (SD)) | 2.3 (1.5) | 2.6 (1.7) | – | 0.280 |
| Types of sexual act‡ | ||||
| Not stated | 1 (1.5% (0.0% to 7.8%)) | 2 (4.3% (0.5% to 14.8%)) | – | – |
| Oral | 35 (50.7% (38.4% to 63.0%)) | 21 (45.7% (30.9% to 61.0%)) | – | 0.546 |
| Vaginal | 64 (92.8% (83.9% to 97.6%)) | 42 (91.3% (79.2% to 97.6%)) | – | 0.779 |
| Anal | 10 (14.5% (7.2% to 25.0%)) | 5 (10.9% (3.6% to 23.6%)) | – | 0.576 |
| Consistent condom use | ||||
| No | 39 (56.5% (44.0% to 68.4%)) | 22 (47.8% (32.9% to 63.1%)) | – | 0.360 |
| Yes | 30 (43.5% (31.6% to 56.0%)) | 24 (52.3% (36.9% to 67.1%)) | – | |
| Alcohol or drug use in past 3 months | ||||
| No | 14 (20.3% (11.6% to 31.7%)) | 14 (30.4% (17.7%–45.8%)) | – | 0.214 |
| Yes | 55 (79.7% (68.3% to 88.4%)%)) | 32 (69.6% (54.2% to 82.3%)) | – | |
| Indigenous identity | ||||
| No | 9 (13.0% (6.1% to 23.3%)) | 8 (17.4% (7.8% to 31.4%)) | – | 0.520 |
| Yes | 60 (87.0% (76.7% to 93.9%)) | 38 (82.6% (68.6% to 92.2%)) | – | |
| Rural residence | ||||
| No | 3 (4.4% (0.9% to 12.2%)) | 10 (21.7% (10.9% to 36.4%)) | – | 0.004 |
| Yes | 66 (95.6% (87.7% to 99.1%)) | 36 (78.3% (63.6% to 89.1%)) | – |
*Significance determined at α=0.05, and p values produced via Student’s t-test, χ2 test for homogeneity, or Fisher’s exact test.
†Types of sexual acts are overlapping categories causing the sum total to exceed the number of sexually active youth.
‡Unless otherwise stated, the number of individuals and column percentages along with their 95% binomial confidence intervals are reported in each cell. Those with missing information on variables or who’s self-reported gender was other than cisgender girl/boy were reported but not used in for statistical comparisons due to small numbers.
SD, standard deviation; STI, sexually transmitted infection.