Factors associated with unsafe sexual behavior among sexually active Chinese University students, Hebei Province, 2019

Zhengjia Ren,Yanhong Liu,Yuchu Zhou

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11992-2

Abstract

BackgroundHealthy sexual behavior is critical for controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic among university students, particularly in regions with increasing infection rates among university students in China.MethodsThis study investigated the prevalence of unhealthy sexual behavior in the past 6 months and the associated demographic and psychosocial factors among sexually active Chinese university students. Self-identified sexually active Chinese university students were recruited for the study.ResultsThe study found that most students used condoms inconsistently during sexual intercourse (54.8%), and logistic regression showed that condomless sex was associated with being raised by a single parent (AOR = 1.934, 95% CI 1.234–3.031) or by grandparents or others (AOR = 1.583, 95% CI 1.003–2.50) and with sometimes using dating apps (AOR = 1.496, 95% CI 1.106–2.024). The independent protective factors for condomless sex were HIV knowledge scores between 15 and 18 compared to scores of 0 to 4 (AOR = 0.434, 95% CI 0.244–0.771). Among sexually active university students, 15.5% reported that they had multiple sexual partners; having multiple sexual partners was associated with sometimes (AOR = 2.543, 95% CI 1.553–4.167) or always (AOR =4.048, 95% CI 2.177–7.527) using dating apps. Being female (AOR = 0.402, 95% CI 0.231–0.699) and in a relationship (AOR = 0.236, 95% CI 0.154–0.363) were protective factors against having multiple sexual partners.ConclusionsThere is an urgent need to promote HIV prevention and to implement psychosocial interventions by providing comprehensive sex education and access to condoms and health care on campuses to decrease the potential factors related to unhealthy sexual behaviors among university students.

Highlights

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevalence among Chinese university students has been drastically increasing through sexual transmission, with an annual growth rate ranging from 30 to 50% in the last five years [1]
The alarmingly high (3000 new cases every year) and still increasing HIV/AIDS annual growth rate (30–50%) among Chinese university students is mainly related to sexual practices, which suggests that the foundation of HIV infection prevention and intervention is an
A research survey (2003) of 22,493 unmarried Chinese undergraduate university students revealed that 17.6% of males and 8.6% of females reported being sexually active, and more than one-third of sexually active students had engaged in condomless sex [3]

Summary

Introduction

HIV/AIDS prevalence among Chinese university students has been drastically increasing through sexual transmission, with an annual growth rate ranging from 30 to 50% in the last five years [1]. The alarmingly high (3000 new cases every year) and still increasing HIV/AIDS annual growth rate (30–50%) among Chinese university students is mainly related to sexual practices, which suggests that the foundation of HIV infection prevention and intervention is an. A research survey (2003) of 22,493 unmarried Chinese undergraduate university students revealed that 17.6% of males and 8.6% of females reported being sexually active, and more than one-third of sexually active students had engaged in condomless sex [3]. Healthy sexual behavior is critical for controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic among university students, in regions with increasing infection rates among university students in China

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