Prevalence of sexual intercourse among school-going adolescents in Coast Province, Kenya

Prevalence and correlates of sexual intercourse among sexually active in-school adolescents: an analysis of five sub-Sahara African countries for the adolescent's sexual health policy implications

BACKGROUND

Early and unprotected sex with multiple partners among adolescents carries a high risk of acquiring HIV infections, other sexually transmitted infections as well as high rates of teenage pregnancy. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has a higher burden of HIV/AIDS: the leading cause of deaths among adolescents. We estimated the prevalence and examined the correlates of sexual intercourse among in-school adolescents of SSA. The purpose is to inform the public health programs dedicated to tackling the burden of HIV/AIDS.

METHODS

We did a secondary analysis of the Global School-based Student Health Surveys (GSHS) datasets pooled from five SSA countries Benin, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, and Tanzania. Our current analysis included a sample of 15,318 in-school adolescents. The primary independent variables were ever had sexual intercourse and sex with multiple partners, while the dependent variables were smoking cigarettes, alcohol use, use of marijuana and amphetamine, and parental connectedness. We performed descriptive statistics, and multivariate logistic regression stratified by gender using SPSS Complex Sample Statistics. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant at 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

Out of 15,318 participants, the overall prevalence of ever had sexual intercourse and sex with multiple partners were 43·5% (6670) and 20·9% (3204), respectively. In overall and across each country, male adolescents had a significantly higher proportion of sex with multiple partners than female adolescents, p < 0·001. The predictors of sexual intercourse with multiple partners in both male and females were smoking cigarettes, alcohol use, and use of marijuana and amphetamine. Female adolescents who smoked cigarettes and used marijuana had a significant likelihood of sex with multiple partners than male adolescents: [aOR 3.6, 95% CI: 2.6-5.1] vs [aOR 2.1, 95% CI: 1.7-2.7] and [aOR 2.4, 95% CI: 1.6-3.7] vs [aOR 1.9, 95% CI: 1·3-2·7], respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents sexual intercourse and more especially sex with multiple partners was prevalent and strongly correlated with substance use. However, the correlation was higher among female adolescents than male adolescents. A customized public health intervention that targets multiple risk factors concurrently may benefit adolescents with clustering of sexual and non-sexual risk-taking behaviors.

Early sexual debut and associated factors among secondary school students of central zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, 2018

Introduction

Early sexual debut is common among young people and it has several sexual and reproductive health consequences. But, its burden and the associated factors leading to this behavior haven't received due attention. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of sexual debut in the preparatory and high school students of Aksum town.

Methods

A school-based quantitative cross-sectional study design was used for this research work. A total of 519 preparatory and high school regular students participated in the survey. The sample population was obtained by using a simple random sampling technique from each schooling proportion with their number of students. Data, that were collected using self administered questionnaires, were entered into EpiData 3.02 and analyzed in SPSS 22.0. Results were presented using frequencies, tables and graphs. Statistical significance was declared at a P-value <0.05.

Results

Of the total participants, 266 (51.3%) were males. The age of the participants ranged from 13 to 23 years with a mean age of 16.3 ± 1.47 years. Of the total participants, 137(26.2%) had sexual experience, among which 119 (87.5%) had an early sexual debut at an average age of 13.7 + 1.4 years. Factors that were found to be significantly associated with an early sexual debut were gender (AOR=3.41; 95% CI: 1.54, 6.99), residence (AOR=0.44; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.81), alcohol drinking (AOR=5.5; 95% CI: 2.2, 14.8), cigarette smoking (AOR=3.3; 95% CI: 2.3, 7.5), exposure to pornography, such as reading/seeing pornographic materials (AOR=7.4; 95% CI: 4.4, 11.78), living arrangement for educational purpose (AOR= 0.43; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.89), grade (AOR=0.38; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.68) and monthly living allowance (AOR=0.419; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.9).

Conclusion

A significant number of students reported early sexual debut. Gender, place of residence, alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, exposure to pornography, grade and living arrangement for educational purpose and monthly living allowance were significant predictors of an early sexual debut.

Premarital sexual practice and associated factors among high school youths in Debretabor town, South Gondar zone, North West Ethiopia, 2017

Objective

Premarital sex is voluntary sexual intercourse between unmarried persons. Prevalence and factors associated with premarital sexual practice in the study area are lacking. Thus, the aims of this study were to determine the prevalence and to identify factors associated with premarital sexual practice among Debretabor high school youths.

Results

The prevalence of premarital sex among Debretabor town high school youths was 22.5% of which 63.9% of them were males. Among those high school youths, the majority (60.2%) had their first sexual intercourse at the age of 15–19 years. The main reason for initiation of sexual intercourse was due to fell in love which accounts 48.1%, followed by sexual desire 22.2%. Predictors that are risk for premarital sex were youths who did not attend religious education [AOR = 7.4, 95% CI (3.32, 16.43)], having boy or girl friends [AOR = 9.66, 95% CI (4.80, 19.43)], drinking alcohol every day [AOR = 9.43, 95% CI (2.86, 31.14)] and less than twice a week [AOR = 2.52, 95% CI (1.22, 5.21)], watching pornography film [AOR = 5.15, 95% CI (2.56, 10.37)] and youths came from rural residing families [AOR = 0.51, 95% CI (0.27, 0.96)].

Factors associated with early sexual initiation among preparatory and high school youths in Woldia town, northeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Early initiation of sexual activity affects the sexual and reproductive health of the young population. The youth are at a high risk of risky sexual behaviours, including multiple partners and inconsistent condom use. There has been limited research on the level and determinants of early sexual initiation in Woldia town. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of early sexual initiation and associated factors among preparatory and high school students in Woldia town, northeast Ethiopia.

METHODS

An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on 723 students selected by the simple random sampling technique on March 7, 2016. A pre-tested and structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were computed. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to examine the strength of association. In the multivariable analysis, a p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

RESULT

The prevalence of early sexual initiation among preparatory and high school students in Woldia town was 18.4% (95% CI:15.50,21.30%). Not attending religious programs (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI:1.84,5.44), peer pressure (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI:1.14,3.25), cigarette smoking (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI:1.06,4.85), poor parental monitoring (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI:1.77,4.53), and exposure to pornographic materials (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI:1.68,4.40) were significantly associated with early sexual initiation.

CONCLUSION

A large number of students initiated sexual activity at an early age. The practiced is associated with sexual and reproductive health problems. Therefore, raising awareness of students about the risk factors for and implication of early sexual initiation through teachers, religious leaders, and parents is highly recommended.

Is the sexual behaviour of young people in sub-Saharan Africa influenced by their peers? A systematic review

Adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are highly vulnerable to HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies. Evidence for the effectiveness of individual behaviour change interventions in reducing incidence of HIV and other biological outcomes is limited, and the need to address the social conditions in which young people become sexually active is clear. Adolescents' peers are a key aspect of this social environment and could have important influences on sexual behaviour. There has not yet been a systematic review on the topic in sub-Saharan Africa. We searched 4 databases to find studies set in sub-Saharan Africa that included an adjusted analysis of the association between at least one peer exposure and a sexual behaviour outcome among a sample where at least 50% of the study participants were aged between 13 and 20 years. We classified peer exposures using a framework to distinguish different mechanisms by which influence might occur. We found 30 studies and retained 11 that met quality criteria. There were 3 cohort studies, 1 time to event and 7 cross-sectional. The 11 studies investigated 37 different peer exposure-outcome associations. No studies used a biological outcome and all asked about peers in general rather than about specific relationships. Studies were heterogeneous in their use of theoretical frameworks and means of operationalizing peer influence concepts. All studies found evidence for an association between peers and sexual behaviour for at least one peer exposure/outcome/sub-group association. Of all 37 outcome/exposure/sub-group associations tested, there was evidence for 19 (51%). There were no clear patterns by type of peer exposure, outcome or adolescent sub-group. There is a lack conclusive evidence about the role of peers in adolescent sexual behaviour in Sub-Saharan. We argue that longitudinal designs, use of biological outcomes and approaches from social network analysis are priorities for future studies.

Prevalence and social correlates of sexual intercourse among school-going adolescents in Thailand

Adolescent sexuality is a relevant public health issue, as it affects risk to contract HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The assessment of prevalence of sexual intercourse among adolescents may guide policies and programmes aimed at reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections among this age group. Using data from the Thailand Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2008, we assessed the prevalence of sexual intercourse in the last 12 months and its associated factors among adolescents (N = 2758). Overall the prevalence of sexual intercourse in the past 12 months was 11.0% (14.6% males and 7.6% females). Variables positively associated with the outcome in multivariable analysis were male gender (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.14–242), older age, ≥15 years (OR = 2.60, 1.80–3.74), current alcohol use (OR = 2.22, 1.46–3.36), psychosocial distress (OR = 2.11, 1.44–3.09) and among females current smoking (OR = 5.47, 1.62–18.48), lifetime drug use (AOR = 4.35, 1.04–18.3) and lack of parental or guardian bonding (AOR = 0.51, 0.27–0.97). Efforts to control unhealthy lifestyles (substance use) and psychosocial distress may impact on adolescents' sexual activity.