Abstract

Background: Male circumcision has been shown to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV. As there was low level of circumcision and high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Gambella, this study intends to identify predictors of willingness to uptake circumcision among indigenous male college students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 314 male college students who were selected using simple random sampling technique with self-administered questionnaire from March 27-30, 2014. The data were entered in to computer and analyzed using SPSS for windows version 16.0. Finally, logistic regressions analyses were used to identify independent predictors of willingness to uptake circumcision. To determine any association between the variables; we computed confidence interval of 95% at P. value <0.05. Result: Three hundred fourteen [94%] of them completely filled and return the questionnaire; 99[31.6%] of them didn’t get circumcise and 130[41.4%] of male students believed that they could suffer rejection from their community if they would uptake circumcision. After multivariate logistic regression was employed, the result showed that; students who believed that they get rejected from society if circumcised were less likely to uptake circumcision 0.03 [AOR=.03, 95% CI: 0.01-0.12]. The other result showed that, as age of students increases by one year the odd of willingness to uptake circumcision also increases by 0.84 and the result was statistically significant [AOR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.71-0.99]. Perceived threat was also significantly associated and students who perceived HIV/AIDS as a high threat to them were about 1.28 times more likely willing to uptake circumcision [AOR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.10-1.53]. The other predictor variable was knowledge of students; per a unit increases in total score of knowledge the odds of willingness to uptake circumcision was increased by 1.5 folds [AOR=1.5, 95% CI: 1.13-2.08]. Conclusion: High perceived threat, knowledge, age and fear of rejection by society were the main predictors of willingness to uptake circumcision among male students. Therefore, designing communication strategies that directly address these factors should be implemented. Men who were willing to uptake circumcision should be provided access to high-quality male circumcision surgical services. It is also highly recommended providing accurate information that would increase the perceived threat of adolescents; reinforcement of messages regarding the importance of HIV risk-reduction strategies. Finally addressing these issues of adolescents at school or different institutional levels might be crucial and easier than shifting population-level norms around male circumcision in future strategies.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call