Ssessment of sexual activity and associated factors Among college students in gambella town, gambella, West ethiopia

Abstract

Background: - For most of the youths, college represents a shift towards greater independence from home and school settings, an opportunity to form new friendships, and for several opportunities to experience romantic and/or sexual relationships. Although adolescence and young adulthood are generally healthy times of life, several important public health and social problems either peak or start during these ages. Because they are in developmental transition, adolescents and young adults are particularly sensitive to environmental, that is, contextual or surrounding, influences Objective: to assess sexual activity and associated factors among college students in Gambella town Methods: - Cross-sectional study including both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were carried out among college students in Gambella town from 02/04 – 02/05/2014. A total of 334 students were included. The quantitative data were collected using a structured self administered questionnaire. The qualitative data were collected using an in-depth interview and analyzed using thematic approach that were then triangulated with quantitative result. Quantitative data were entered into SPSS version 16. Odds ratios were calculated to determine the association between the outcome and selected variables through binary logistic regression and Multivariate Logistic regression were used to control for confounders. Result: - Two hundred thirty (68.9%) of the respondents are male. Out of 334 respondents 204 (61.1 %) of the respondents were sexually active after joining college and of this males were 135 (66.2 %). The mean age at first sexual intercourse was 18.5 SD of 1.7 years. Being first year [AOR= 0.34 (0.14 – 0.82)], whose father were grade 9-12 [AOR= 3.12, 95% CI(1.25 – 7.82)], occasionally discuss sex related issue with relatives/friends [AOR= 2.65, 95% CI (1.09 – 6.40)], heard about condoms [AOR= 3.70 (1.52 – 9.03)], like to use condom [AOR= 0.33, 95% CI (0.15 – 0.73)], who think that college students are well informed about condom [AOR= 0.28, 95% CI (0.12 – 0.65)], who didn’t think that college students are well informed about condom [AOR= 0.20, 95% CI (0.08 – 0.50)], and drink alcohol [AOR= 7.23, 95% CI (3.82 – 13.70)] have further association with sexual activity after joining college. The qualitative data also shows majority of students practice sexual intercourse after joining college and the major negative factors that led them to have were culture, alcohol consumption, peer pressure and economic problem. Conclusion and recommendation Majority of the students practice sexual intercourse during college year but there were poor practice of condom use during sexual intercourse. Provision of accurate information about adolescent sexuality and RH especially focused on risk and consequence of unprotected sex is essential for college students.