Investigation of Relationship between Sociodemographic Factors and HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) among Young People in Nigeria

Adaeze Oguegbu

doi:10.4236/aid.2016.61004

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the association between sociodemographic factors (gender, place of residence, level of education, geopolitical zone, and socioeconomic status) and HCT uptake among young people in Nigeria. The study is a quantitative research guided by one research question and one hypothesis. The target population comprised young people in Nigeria ages 15 to 24 years because the focus of this study was to identify the factors affecting HCT uptake among young people in this age cohort. The representative sample was obtained from the updated master sample frame of rural and urban zones developed by the National Population Commission in Nigeria. This master sample frame was a national survey that comprises all 36 states in Nigeria. Probability sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 10,091 respondents (ages 15 to 24 years) for the study. The multistage cluster sampling was used to select suitable young people with known probability. Data were collected throughout Nigeria between September and December 2012 from 32,543 households (rural = 22,192; urban = 10,351) using structured and semistructured questionnaires. The individual questionnaires asked about household characteristics, background characteristics of the respondents. Data were analyzed by inputting them into SPSS v21.0 for analysis and then coded them for each participant. The data were summed using descriptive statistics. Frequencies and percentages; measures of central tendencies were used to answer the research question while nonparametric test such as chi-square was used to analyze non-normally distributed data at 0.5 level of significance. Results of data analysis indicated that the sociodemographic variables of gender, place of residence, level of education, geopolitical zone, and SES were significantly associated with HCT uptake. Among others, it was recommended that examining the efficacy of HCT treatments in Nigeria, along with conducting a demographic analysis of the at-risk population, could be beneficial in informing the authorities who are responsible for allocating finite medical resources.

Highlights

HIV and AIDS constitute a major global health problem
The hypothesis examined whether five sociodemographic factors were significantly associated with the uptake of HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) among young people in Nigeria
The demographic variables of gender, place of residence, level of education, geopolitical zone, and socio-economic status (SES) were found to be significantly associated with HCT uptake in the sample

Summary

Introduction

HIV and AIDS constitute a major global health problem. Many people globally have lost their lives due to HIV and AIDS attacks. In Nigeria for instance, HIV and AIDS stand out as the greatest threat to human life because there is no drug for its cure. As a result of non availability of drugs that can cure the sickness, most of them feel depressed and dejected. The incidence rate of HIV for young people aged 15 to 24 years in Nigeria was approximately 5.6% in 2012 [1]. The prevalence of HIV among young people in Nigeria can be attributed in part to factors associated with the lack of uptake of HCT [2]

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Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion