Assessment of the prevalence and determinants of premarital sexual practice and unprotected sex among high school students in Addis Ababa.

Abstract

Introduction: HIV /AIDS has taken 25 million lives since its existence 27 years ago. About two point three percent of Ethiopian adults age 15-49 are infected with virus. Youth with secondary or higher education are much more likely than those with less schooling to have engaged in higherrisk sex. Early onset of sexual intercourse is associated with increased lifetime prevalence of sexual partners, thereby increasing the risk exposure to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. Objective: To asses the magnitude and determinants of premarital sexual practice and use of condom in high school students of Addis Ababa. Methods: A cross-sectional study using both quantitative and qualitative data collection method has been conducted from April-June 2009.Three thousand eighty nine students from 23 high schools filled a pre- tested questionnaire .Eight focus group discussions and 2 in-depth interviews with male and female students, teachers and HIV club members has been done to enrich the quantitative data. Results: Twelve point two percent of the high school students (n=378) reported that they had sexual intercourse. Out of these students 303 (80.2%) were male. Among males the sexual practice was 19.6% and among females it was 4.8%.The average age of sexual initiation was 15.8 years (SD±2.6). The most common factors encouraged their first sex were Personal interest 46.6% (176 ); Getting money 36.4 %, Films 23.1% ; Friends pressure 4.7%. In the qualitative study it was mentioned that age, peer pressure ,poverty, modernization, recreational programmes in schools were factors which lead to premarital sexual practice. Environment around schools is said to be the main factor predisposing the students to sexual practice (61.5%).This fact has been supported by the qualitative study stating Business centres around schools, G- (girls ) business group ,shish a ,hashish, pool ,video houses and bars are playing major role.