Abstract
BackgroundGlobal evidence shows that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevalence and sexual risk behaviours are high among youth, and knowledge about STIs is low. In Tanzania, there is limited recent evidence regarding these issues. The aim of this study was to describe the health seeking behaviour of youth reporting STI symptoms in semi-rural Tanzania and to evaluate the association of socio-demographic characteristics, STI knowledge and sexual risk behaviour with STI symptom reporting.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study involving 2251 sexually experienced youth (15–24 years), who participated in a larger baseline survey of a cohort within Ifakara town. Interview data were electronically collected by trained field workers. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors that influence the risk of reporting STI symptoms within the past year, using Stata 12.1.ResultsThe prevalence of self-reported STI symptoms in the past year was 19.9%. Almost all of youth had heard of STIs and 32.7% of youth could mention at least one sign. 34.4% had sought care for their STI symptoms, the majority at private facilities. Only 20% of HIV-STI co-infected youth was aware of their HIV status.Youth with more knowledge of STI symptoms reported to have had symptoms more often (OR = 1.28; 95% CI 1.01–1.62), and those reporting having first sex at 16 or under were more likely to report STI symptoms than those who delayed to 17–19 years (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.003–1.62).ConclusionThese findings highlight the need to improve the implementation of Adolescent Friendly Health Services available in Tanzania (especially in semi-rural areas). The inclusion of private facilities and pharmacies in AFHS scale-up would potentially raise the level of STI knowledge, lower the STI prevalence and reduce HIV incidence among youth.
Highlights
Global evidence shows that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevalence and sexual risk behaviours are high among youth, and knowledge about Sexually transmitted infection (STI) is low
Limited global data are available on the occurrence of STIs among youth aged 15–24 years (UN definition for youth), some evidence exists that gonorrhoea, but not chlamydia, rates are higher in this age group than in individuals over 24 years [6]
More evidence is available on high risk sexual behaviour among youth, with two reviews, one on Low-and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) [7] and one on sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries [8] showing that high proportions of adolescents (10–19 years) had low condom use, sex before 15 years of age, and multiple sexual partners
Summary
Global evidence shows that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevalence and sexual risk behaviours are high among youth, and knowledge about STIs is low. Limited global data are available on the occurrence of STIs among youth aged 15–24 years (UN definition for youth), some evidence exists that gonorrhoea, but not chlamydia, rates are higher in this age group than in individuals over 24 years [6]. More evidence is available on high risk sexual behaviour among youth, with two reviews, one on Low-and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) [7] and one on sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries [8] showing that high proportions of adolescents (10–19 years) had low condom use, sex before 15 years of age (especially among girls), and multiple sexual partners. Most studies focus on HIV, but the few studies from countries in SSA that assessed knowledge of STIs among youth showed an overall low level of knowledge in this population [9, 10]
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