Determinants of risky sexual behaviour among undergraduate students at the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Risky sexual behavior is defined as behaviors leading to sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, HIV infection was very high among adolescents and youths living in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of risky sexual behavior and associated factors among undergraduate students at the University of Gondar An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2019 and a simple random sampling technique was employed to select 420 students. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire, entered into Epi-info version 7.0 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis, and presented in frequencies, percentages, and tables. Bivariable and Multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify variables having significant association with risky sexual behavior.The prevalence of risky sexual behavior among undergraduate students at the University of Gondar was 44.0%.

Prevalence and associated factors of early sexual initiation among female youth in East Africa: further analysis of recent demographic and health survey

“…Furthermore, youth from rural areas had a lower likelihood of early sexual initiation compared to urban youth; this finding was consistent with previous studies [48][49][50]. This could be attributed to urban females being exposed to alcohol, substances, and pornographic materials, which leads to an early sexual debut.…”

Risky Sexual Behavior and its Determinants among Undergraduate Hostellers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City

“…This in line with a study from Ethiopia where students above the age of 24 years were found to be twice more likely to engaged in RSB as compared to younger students. 16 This finding aligns with several past cross-sectional studies that have explored the complex relationship between age and sexual behavior and observed that age may play a crucial role in influencing individuals’ likelihood of engaging in RSB. 18, 20, 24, 25 A plausible explanation for this association could be that the students of higher age may be more inclined to be involved in relationships, exhibit greater confidence in making independent decisions, and enjoy improved financial options compared to their younger students.…”

“…[11] Similar findings were shared by a studies executed among undergraduate students from Sri Lanka and from Ethiopia where 12.4% and 44.0% of the sexual active participants were practicing risky sexual behavior. [13, 14] This might be due to different characteristic of population study, study setting as well cut off point.…”

“…[18-20] Similar the association of practice towards risky sexual behavior, the multiple other findings were shared by a studies executed from different countries such as: from Sri Lanka where association with sex; ethnicity; religious; and substance abuse like alcohol consumption; smoking; had taken marijuana, etc, from China where association of multiple sex partner with age; marital status and monthly income, from Ethiopia where age; residence; living arrangement; religion and alcohol consumption, from Indonesia where age of the participants were reported statistically significance. [13, 14, 17, 21]…”

“…14 The practice of RSB has been reported among undergraduates throughout the world from different countries such as Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Rwanda where the risky sexual behavior among undergraduates was observed to be between 12.1% and 64.0%. [15][16][17] Similarly, a meta-analysis based on eighteen studies from Ethiopia estimated the pooled prevalence of RSB among college and university students to be at 41.62%. 18 The variation in prevalence of RSB might be attributable to the difference in sample size and study setting as well as the variation in cases definition of RSB in these studies.…”