Health risk behaviors and sexual initiation among in-school adolescents in rural communities in southwestern Nigeria
-
Adenike I. Olugbenga-Bello
,
Wasiu O. Adebimpe
Abstract
Background: Adolescents exhibit numerous risky sexual behaviors leading to initiation of sexual intercourse not mindful of the many consequences.
Objective: To determine the prevalence and pattern of sexual risky behavior and its association with sexual initiation.
Methods: This was a school-based descriptive cross-sectional study among 377 in-school adolescents, who were selected using multistage sampling methods. Research instruments were semistructured self-administered questionnaires.
Results: The mean age of respondents was 15.7 (+1.8) years. Most of the respondents claimed to have heard about sex education at one time or another. About 53 (14.1%) had their first sexual experience before or at the age of 15 years. The mean age of the first sexual experience for males was 14 years 3 months and 15 years 3 months for females. Fourteen (3.7%) had no fixed sexual partner; most of the sexually active respondents did not use a condom during their last intercourse. Only 7.7% of the respondents reported to have had a sexually transmitted infection. Most of the 207 female respondents (85.5%) had never been pregnant while 88.9% of those who had been pregnant had an abortion. Females were about 1.5 times more likely to have had first sexual intercourse before the age of 15 years, though the observed likelihood was not statistically significant [odd ratio (OR)=0.7, 95%; confidence interval (CI)=0.3–1.5; p=0.642]. Likewise, males were 1.7 times more likely to have used condoms at the last sexual intercourse, and the observed likelihood was not statistically significant (OR=1.7; 95%CI=0.8–3.4; p=0.079).
Conclusion: In this study, adolescents were sexually active with negative consequences on their reproductive health. Stakeholders involved in the care of adolescents should take the consequences into consideration.
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©2014 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Cardiovascular disease and prevention
- Reviews
- Future orientation: a construct with implications for adolescent health and wellbeing
- Aortic dilatation and dissection in Turner syndrome: What we know, what we are unclear about and what we should do in clinical practice?
- Original articles
- Gender differences in early trauma and high-risk behaviors among street-entrenched youth in British Columbia
- Health-promoting lifestyle and its predictors among Iranian adolescent girls, 2013
- Health risk behaviors and sexual initiation among in-school adolescents in rural communities in southwestern Nigeria
- Is change in health behavior of Dutch medical students related to change in their ideas on how a physician’s lifestyle influences their patient’s lifestyle?
- Awareness of current recommendations and guidelines regarding strength training for youth
- Non-medical prescription drug and illicit street drug use among young Swiss men and associated mental health issues
- Prevalence of health behaviors and their associated factors among a sample of university students in India
- Quality of life measures and psychiatric symptoms in adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus and familial Mediterranean fever
- Risk behaviors related to violence and injury among school-going adolescents in Karnataka, Southern India
- Polycystic ovary syndrome in Iranian adolescents
- Relational stressors as predictors for repeat aggressive and self-harming incidents in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient settings
- Effect of life skills training on physical activity patterns amongst school adolescents in Delhi: a non-randomized interventional study
- Association of oral hygiene habits and food intake with the risk of dental caries among undergraduate university women in Saudi Arabia
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Cardiovascular disease and prevention
- Reviews
- Future orientation: a construct with implications for adolescent health and wellbeing
- Aortic dilatation and dissection in Turner syndrome: What we know, what we are unclear about and what we should do in clinical practice?
- Original articles
- Gender differences in early trauma and high-risk behaviors among street-entrenched youth in British Columbia
- Health-promoting lifestyle and its predictors among Iranian adolescent girls, 2013
- Health risk behaviors and sexual initiation among in-school adolescents in rural communities in southwestern Nigeria
- Is change in health behavior of Dutch medical students related to change in their ideas on how a physician’s lifestyle influences their patient’s lifestyle?
- Awareness of current recommendations and guidelines regarding strength training for youth
- Non-medical prescription drug and illicit street drug use among young Swiss men and associated mental health issues
- Prevalence of health behaviors and their associated factors among a sample of university students in India
- Quality of life measures and psychiatric symptoms in adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus and familial Mediterranean fever
- Risk behaviors related to violence and injury among school-going adolescents in Karnataka, Southern India
- Polycystic ovary syndrome in Iranian adolescents
- Relational stressors as predictors for repeat aggressive and self-harming incidents in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient settings
- Effect of life skills training on physical activity patterns amongst school adolescents in Delhi: a non-randomized interventional study
- Association of oral hygiene habits and food intake with the risk of dental caries among undergraduate university women in Saudi Arabia
