PERCEPTION OF RISK OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULT IN IBADAN

Abstract

Adolescents and young adults mostly involve in activities or behaviours that put them at risk of health challenges. Such activities include early and unsafe sexual activities, premarital sex, having multiple sexual partners, use of alcohol and drugs, violence and dropping out of school. The commonest consequences of such practices are STis, unsafe abortion, and unwanted pregnancy. Hence this study is aimed at determining the perception of STIs and risky sexual behaviour among adolescents and young adults in ]do local government, Oyo State. This was a cross sectional study in which a total of 383 adolescents and young adults aged 14 -24 years, resident in ldo local government area were selected using simple random sampling method. Data were collected from the respondents using detailed self-administered questionnaire about socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of STIs and symptoms, STI prevention practices, sexual risk behaviour and risk perception of the STIs. The level of awareness and knowledge of STIs were assessed using a 9-item and 20-item scale respectively. The cut-off points for high level of awareness and good knowledge of STls were 5 and 10 respectively. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the general characteristics of the sample while predictors of risky sexual behaviour and perceived risk of STls were assessed using the Chi-Square test and binary logistic regression. All analyses were performed at a statistical significance level of 0.05. The mean age of the respondents was 17.83 ±2.61 years. One qualifier (25.6%) of the respondents were between the age ranges of 20 - 24 years while the rest were between 14 - 19 years old. The respondents were mainly student (80.6%); unskilled and skilled were 16.6% and 2.8% respectively. About 40.2% of the respondents were sexually active, out of which 40.3% were unprotected during last sexual intercourse and about half of them had multiple sex partners. The major and the least source of information on STIs were educational institutions and youth centre respectively. Predictors of risky sexual behaviour were gender (OR = 2.6, 95% Cl, 1.29 - 5.27), age (OR= 3.6, 95% CI, 1.55 -8.23), occupation (OR= 2.3, 95% CI, 1.01 - 5.04), and level of education (OR = 3.1, 95% CL 1.22 - 7.67: OR= 8.1, 95% Cl, 1.97 - 33.27). There was no statistically significant association between perception of risk of STls and risky sexual behaviour. Findings from this study revealed that majority of adolescents and young adults had abysmal poor awareness and knowledge STIs. Risky sexual behaviour decreased with increase in the level of education. The study also provides evidence that sexual education among young persons is necessary to prevent STls.