High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Thursday, May 14, 2009
Sexual Health
Teenage conception rates in Scotland are amongst the highest in Western Europe and there has been little change in the rate of conception amongst the <20s over the last ten years, with the rate fluctuating around 55 per 1,000. Although there has been a slight reduction in the overall rate of <16 teenage conceptions (from 8.2 per 1,000 in 1994 to 7.1 per 1,000 in 2005), rates in the most deprived areas are not falling as fast as those in more affluent areas.
Since 1996, there has been an upward trend in numbers of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinics in Scotland. Note however that these data do not paint the full picture as they do not include diagnoses made in settings other than GUM clinic, which is increasingly common.
Based on GUM clinic diagnoses, the incidence of Chlamydia infection in recent years has increased, from 1,770 in 1996 to 8,832 cases in 2006. It has been suggested that some of the increase is related to an increased awareness and to wider application of laboratory tests, but there is also thought to be a genuine increase in the level of infection, particularly amongst young people.
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Source: Information Services NHS National Health Services Scotland
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