High prevalence of HIV/AIDS risky sexual behaviors among street youth in gondar town: a community based cross sectional study

BMC Research Notes

Kefyalew Addis Alene⁴  Zelalem Birhanu Mengesha³  Tadesse Awoke Ayele¹  Negash Tadesse² 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia;Family Health International Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;Department of Reproductive Health and Health Education, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia;Department of Public Health Officer, Institute of Public health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

关键词: Gondar;    Street youth;    Risky sexual behaviors;    HIV/AIDS;   

Others  :  1142418
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-6-234

 received in 2013-02-08, accepted in 2013-06-10,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Street youth are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and all kinds of health risks. This study assessed HIV/AIDS risky sexual behaviors and its predictors among street youth in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A community based cross sectional study was conducted on 467 street youth living in Gondar town. A pre tested and structured questionnaire via interview was used to collect data. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors. Odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to assess the strength of associations.

Results

A total of 288 (61.7%) respondents had sexual intercourse in their life time. Among these 264 (91.7%) had more than one lifetime sexual partners. In addition, 80.5% of them used condom inconsistently in the last 12 months. Khat chewing was found to be predictor of having multiple sexual partners. Rural former residence and longer duration of stay on the street are also identified as predictors of inconsistent condom use.

Conclusion

High prevalence of HIV/AIDS risky sexual behaviors were observed among street youth in Gondar town. Interventions aimed at reducing sexual risky behaviors among street youth should focus on reducing the duration of stay on the street and chat chewing.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Tadesse et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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