Is higher risk sex common among male or female youths?

Abstract

There are several studies that showed the high prevalence of high-risk sexual behaviors among youths, but little is known how significant the proportion of higher risk sex is when the male and female youths are compared. A meta-analysis was done using 26 countries’ Demographic and Health Survey data from and outside Africa to make comparisons of higher risk sex among the most vulnerable group of male and female youths. Random effects analytic model was applied and the pooled odds ratios were determined using Mantel–Haenszel statistical method. In this meta-analysis, 19,148 male and 65,094 female youths who reported to have sexual intercourse in a 12-month period were included. The overall OR demonstrated that higher risk sex was ten times more prevalent in male youths than in female youths. The practice of higher risk sex by male youths aged 15–19 years was more than 27-fold higher than that of their female counterparts. Similarly, male youths in urban areas, belonged to a family with middle to highest wealth index, and educated to secondary and above were more than ninefold, eightfold and sixfold at risk of practicing higher risk sex than their female counterparts, respectively. In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated that the practice of risky sexual intercourse by male youths was incomparably higher than female youths. Future risky sex protective interventions should be tailored to secondary and above educated male youths in urban areas.