The Influence of Social Desirability on Self-Reported Sexual Behavior in HIV Survey in Rural Ethiopia (original) (raw)
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Predictors of sexual abstinence among Wolaita Sodo University Students, South Ethiopia
Background: It is over 30 years since the first case of AIDS [Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome] was identified. Attention has been focused recently on the promotion of the "ABCs" of HIV prevention (being abstinent or delaying sex, remaining faithful to one sexual partner, and using condoms consistently during sexual intercourse). As programs that focus on ABCs to prevent heterosexual transmission HIV are rolled out, questions of how well university students who come from varied cultural contexts actually understand the terms and address challenges to adopt behaviors is unanswered. In Ethiopia, despite the mushrooming number of students in the higher learning institutions with the current figure being 210,000 students accommodated in 33 public and 72 private higher learning institutions, sexual and reproductive health services, are not delivered in an organized way. The objective of this study is to identify factors associated with Sexual abstinence among Wolaita Sodo University students to provide evidence for designing appropriate interventions. Methods: A Cross-Sectional study was conducted among 750 undergraduate students selected from Wolaita Sodo University using a stratified simple random sampling technique during the academic year. Data were collected using structured self administered questionnaire, focus group discussion and in depth interview guides as tools for data collection. Ethical clearance was obtained from Jimma University and informed consent was obtained from the participants after explaining purpose of study. Statistical tests were employed wherever necessary at the significance level of 0.05. Results: All of the participants had heard about HIV/AIDS of which 97.3% had good knowledge. Higher proportions of male students were sexually active than their counter parts. Students with better knowledge on HIV AIDS were 6.6 (95%CI=1.6, 12.9) times more likely to abstain from sexual intercourse than their counter parts. Conclusions: Knowledge of students about risk of HIV infection is strong predictors of sexual abstinence of students which were less observed among students who came from rural areas. The university needs to intensify strong behavior change communication using multiple strategies through the active involvement of students themselves within the university's premises and in the surrounding community in collaboration with stakeholders to promote Sexual abstinence.
BackgroundRisky sexual behavior (RSB) among youth can lead to serious social, economic, and health problems, such as unwanted pregnancy and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Despite a high burden of AIDS in the South Omo zone, little is known about RSB among secondary school students, and numerous studies in Ethiopia have discordant RSB findings. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of risky sexual behavior and its determinants among secondary school students in the South Omo zone.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2023. A multistage sampling method was used to select 538 students. A validated and structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data after pretesting. The results of descriptive analysis were presented by texts, tables and figures. Variables found to be p<0.20 in the bivariate logistic regression analysis were candidates for multivariate analysis. The level of statistical significance w...
Ethiopia is a developing country with a demographic profile dominated by a young population. Due to biological, psychological, sociocultural and economic factors, young people, particularly those aged 15-24 years, are generally at a high risk of HIV/AIDS and other reproductive health problems. This paper presents results of a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in Bahir Dar town, northwest Ethiopia, to assess factors that predispose out-of-school youths to HIV/AIDS-related risk behaviours. Both quantitative and qualitative data-collection methods were employed to conduct the study. For quantitative data collection, a household interview survey was conducted among 628 out-of-school youths, aged 15-24 years, within the 17 kebeles (villages) of the town. The number of respondents in each kebele was assigned proportional to the size of kebele, and the required numbers of respondents within each kebele were selected through a systematic random-sampling technique. Qualitative data were collected by conducting five focus-group discussions with 46 participants and in-depth interviews with 10 participants. Institutional ethical clearance and informed verbal consent from the study participants were obtained before undertaking the study. Of the 628 study subjects, 64.8% had experienced sexual intercourse at the time of the survey. The mean age at first sexual commencement was 17.7 (+2) years. Of those sexually active, 33% had sexual intercourse with non-regular partners (the proportions were 40.6% among males and 24.7% among females, suggesting that males tended to be about two times more likely to have sex with non-regular sexual partners than females (odds ratio=1.78, with 95% confidence interval 1.16-2.73). Furthermore, consistent condom-use among those who had sex in exchange for money was low (36%). Alcohol intake, chewing of khat (a green leaf), low educational background, and being male were significantly associated with having sex with either a commercial or a non-regular sexual partner. In view of the magnitude of high-risk sexual behaviours among out-of-school youths that may expose them to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, efforts need to be exerted to deal with the identified predisposing factors and to address the problems of idleness, lack of jobs, and hopelessness.
Journal Of Clinical Research In HIV AIDS And Prevention
Background: In the absence of a cure for HIV and AIDS, prevention remains the most effective strategy to eliminate the pandemic. Abstinence from sexual intercourse is, therefore, the primary prevention weapon among unmarried adolescents and young adults, especially the school-going ones. This study uses the main constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM), as the theoretical framework to investigate the psychosocial predictors of sexual abstinence among senior secondary school students in an urban setting in the Southwest region of Cameroon Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional design, collecting data from a stratified random sample of 420 students in November 2016, using a pretested structured questionnaire, and analyzing them using SPSS version 20 software programme, using binomial logistic regressions at the level 0.05. Results: Only 194 (46.2%) were abstaining from sex. Perceived susceptibility to HIV, perceived severity of HIV/ AIDS, perceived benefits of sexual abstinence and perceived self-efficacy for sexual abstinence were not that high, 79.8%, 71.0%, 86.4% and 68.3% respectively. None of the above constructs of the HBM was a significant predictor of sexual abstinence. However, increasing age was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of sexual abstinence, OR=1.6 (95% CI 1.20-2.24, p=0.002). Conclusions: Senior secondary school students in urban Cameroon were not practicing sexual abstinence. Interventions and strategies to increase sexual abstinence are highly recommended and should focus on increasing the perception of risk of contracting HIV, which is assumed to be the immediate antecedent of sexual abstinence, on overcoming barriers to sexual abstinence and on sexual abstinence negotiating skills, and should target adolescent students (10-19 years old).
International Journal of Women s Health and Wellness, 2018
Background: Risky sexual behavior is a behavior related to sexuality which increases the susceptibility of an individual to reproductive health problems like Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STIs), unwanted pregnancy, abortion and psychological distress. Young people's are at higher risk of practicing risky sexual behaviors due to their risk taking behavior. The rate of risky sexual behaviors is increasing in developing countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to the determinants of risky sexual behaviors among students of Mizan-Aman College of Health Science, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted in Mizan-Aman College of Health Science, Southwest Ethiopia. Simple random sampling technique was used. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. SPSS version 20.0 was used for Bivariate and Multivariate Analysis. Result: About 35% of the study participants had at least one of the risky sexual behaviors. Accordingly; 57.6% of the study participants reported to have sexual intercourse before age of eighteen, 16.3% had more than one sexual partner, 16.7% had sexual intercourse with commercial sex workers and 86.9% reported inconsistent use of condoms. Besides; alcohol drinking was reported by 17.2% of the respondents whereas 4.8% said that they chew khat. Alcohol drinking (AOR = 7.77, 95% CI = 3.04, 19.87), perception of being at high risk of getting HIV (AOR = 3.97, 95% CI = 1.08, 14.59) and younger age status (AOR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.38, 6.13) were found to be determinants of risky sexual behaviors. Conclusion: Above one-third of the respondents had at least one of the risky sexual behaviors. Perception of being at high risk of getting HIV, alcohol drinking, and younger age status were major determinants of risky sexual behaviors.
Safer sex behaviors (sexual abstinence, correct and consistent condom usage) are important for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS among college students. The purpose of this article was to review studies addressing determinants of safer sex behaviors among college students. In Ethiopia little or no data existed on the preventive behaviors of HIV/AIDS among college students. Therefore, this study aimed to assess HIV/AIDS preventive behavior and associated factors among college students in Gambella town. An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from 2nd to 4th March, 2015 using self-administered questioners. Pretest was conducted before the actual data collection and reliability test was performed. EPI DATA version 3.1 and SPSS version 21 software were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Descriptive statistics were computed and a multivariate logistic regression model was fitted. P-value less than 0.05 were used to declare statistical significance. 670 college students participated in this study. The study identified that, 72.1% of the students had HIV/AIDS preventive behaviors. Among sexually active students, 83(30.6%) were using condom consistently in the last 12 month and 59.7% of the college students had no sexual intercourse. Being engaged in HIV/AIDS, preventive behavior was determined by age ≤19 years (AOR=1.89, 95% CI: 1.29, 2.77), good HIV related knowledge (AOR=2.48, 95% CI: 1.46, 4.09) and drinking alcohol (AOR=0.51, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.73). High perceived severity toward HIV/AIDS and high perceived benefit of engaging in HIV/AIDS preventive behavior (using of condom) also predicted HIV/AIDS preventive behavior (AOR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.59) and (AOR=2.35, 95% CI: 1.36, 2.93), respectively. HIV/AIDS preventive behavior of college students in Gambella was high. However, inconsistent condom use among sexually active students was highly practiced. Age, knowledge of HIV/AIDS preventive behavior, alcohol use, perceived severity and benefit had a significant effect on HIV/AIDS preventive behavior of the college students.
Sexual Practices and Associated Factors Among Youths , Shire Town , Tigray , Northern , Ethiopia
2018
Young people are particularly vulnerable to problems of sexual and reproductive health and many young people are exposed to a great risk of contracting serious sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/ AIDS and teen age pregnancy. Therefore, this study aimed to assess sexual practices and associated factors among youths, shire town, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Methods: Community based cross sectional study was employed among 806 youths of shire town selected by multistage sampling technique. Data was collected from July 1526/ 2013. Structured pre tested questionnaires via face to face interview were used to collect the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine the effect of independent variables on the outcome variable. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Finally the results were presented using text, graphs and tables. Results: A total of 781 youths were enrolled in this study, making a response rate of 96.8%. Three hundred fifty four (45.3%) ...
Northeast African Studies, 2000
Objectives: To identify determinants of sexual behaviors among Ethiopian secondary school adolescents using Jessor's theoretical framework. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to examine determinants of sexual behaviors among 537 high school students aged 14-20. HIV risk and protective factors were identified based on a review of the literature. Focus group discussions and informal interviews were carried out to validate theoretical constructs and, together with the literature review, to guide questionnaire construction. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between each risk and protective factor and each sexual behavior. Results: Most students (64 percent male and 89 percent female) were not sexually active. Only 56 percent of the sexually active youths reported ever using condoms. Family involvement, age of boy/girlfriend, expectations for academic achievement, and substance abuse were associated with at least three of the six sexual behaviors or intentions examined. Risk and protective factors in
BMC Medical Research Methodology, 2011
Background: Studies of HIV often use self-reported surveys to measure sexual knowledge, attitudes, and practices. However, the self-reported data are vulnerable to social desirability (SD), a propensity of individuals to report favorable responses. The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS) was developed as a measure of the effect of social desirability, but it has not been adapted for or used in Africa. This study aimed to apply the MC-SDS nested in an HIV behavioral intervention program and to measure its reliability in four African countries. Methods: The MC-SDS was adapted based on consultations with local stakeholders and pilot tested in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Uganda. Trained interviewers administered the modified 28-item MC-SDS survey to 455 men and women (ages 15-24 years). The scores for the social desirability scales were calculated for all participants. An analysis of the internal consistency of responses was conducted using the Cronbach's α coefficient. Acceptable internal consistency was defined as an α coefficient of ≥ 0.70. Results: Mean social desirability scores ranged from a low of 15.7 in Kenya to a high of 20.6 in Mozambique. The mean score was 17.5 for Uganda and 20.6 for Mozambique. The Cronbach's α coefficients were 0.63 in Kenya, 0.66 in Mozambique, 0.70 in Uganda, and 0.80 in Ethiopia. Conclusions: The MC-SDS can be effectively adapted and implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. The reliability of responses in these settings suggest that the MC-SDS could be a useful tool for capturing potential SD in surveys of HIV related risk behaviors.