PROVIDENCE – Saying casual hookups are at an “all-time high” thanks to dating apps like Tinder and Grindr, a new study released Monday said Alaska is the “most sexually diseased state” in the country, while New Hampshire is the least.
Rhode Island is 34th, which is among the bottom half, and on the better end for safety, according to the study from BackgroundChecks.org.
Although Rhode Island was 34th, it still was highest among the New England states. Connecticut and Massachusetts were 42nd and 43rd, respectively, while Vermont was 47th and Maine, 48th.
BackgroundChecks.org, an organization focused on public safety, online privacy, home security and open government, said it used Centers for Disease Control data on sexually transmitted diseases, state and county health agency data and social media surveys, to come up with its list. It also used a rate of incidents per 100,000 residents normalized for population.
The rest of the top five most diseased states? Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi and New Mexico.
“Everyone should enjoy themselves this Valentine’s Day,” Trent Wilson, co-author of the research, said in a statement. “We just want people to be a little bit more aware and take the necessary precautions. The amount of STDs out there are staggering, and it’s all completely preventable.”
BackgroundChecks.org said STDs reached an all-time high in 2015, according to data released last year by the CDC.
