Determinants of Sexual Debut among High School Girl Students in Arsi Zone, Huruta Town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Premature sexual debut increases the likely-hood of having many sexual partners, early pregnancy, unintended pregnancy, abortion and its complications. Moreover, the age at primary sex is affected by numerous of factors and this makes the consequences much more serious. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore determinants that affect high school female students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed from December, 15-19/2015 at huruta senior secondary school. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Data were gathered using structured, selfadministered questionnaire. Epi-Info version 3.5.1 was used to enter, clean and analyze the collected data. To explore the possible factors related with early sexual debut were carried out using descriptive statistics, binary and multivariable logistic regression model. Results: Among high school girl students 53.7% reported early sexual debut. The mean age at primary sexual debut was 16.27 (SD ± 2.1) years. The major predictors were age group 20-24 [AOR=3.03, 95% CI; (2.09, 4.39)], marital status [AOR=0.05, 95% CI; (0.02, 0.12)], peer pressure [AOR=3.85, 95% CI; (2.66, 5.58)], alcohol use (AOR=2.01, 95% CI; (1.41, 2.87)] and watching pornographic videos [AOR=3.01, 95% CI; (2.06, 4.40)]. Conclusions: Significant proportion of high school students have started early sexual debut. The study shows that the need to aware school students to make them informed and sound decision on their sexual experimentation. Therefore, Huruta town administration education and health bureau should design a persistent and effective health education, to reduce the exposure to early sexual debut among high school girl students.