Evaluating the Prevalence and Patterns of Sexual Risk Behavior Among Undergraduate University Students in Ethiopia: Implication for Psychosocial Intervention

Abstract

Risky sexual behavior is any behavior that increases the probability of negative consequences associated with sexual contact. Family environment, peer influence, community factors, and school attachment seem to be important factors affecting sexual risk behavior and decision in school/higher institution youths. This research has also been conducted to inspect the patterns of sexual risk behavior among undergraduate university students in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using self-administered structured questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic, sexual, and associated risk behaviors among Woldia University students. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression model was carried out using SPSS version. The results revealed that 28.34% of the total study participants reported to have had sexual intercourse at least once. More proportion of male students ever had sex compared with females. One fifth of these students had their first sexual experience after they joined university. About 6% of students with sexual experience reported having had intercourse with same-sex partners. Half of the males with sexual experience had intercourse with a commercial sex worker. Regarding the use of condom, majority of the students reported to have used a condom once in a blue moon. Not using condom at the first and last sexual engagement were significant predictors of having multiple sexual partners. This study revealed risky sexual behaviors among university students. Thus, continuous and intensified public health strategies on health education and reproductive health services are required to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of the students.