Predictors of sexual risk behaviour among adolescents from welfare institutions in Malaysia: a cross sectional study

BMC Public Health

Proceedings

Nabilla Al-Sadat¹  Norlaili Abdul Aziz¹  Maznah Dahlui¹  Nik Daliana Nik Farid¹  Sulaiman Che' Rus² 

[1] Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;Centre for Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;Institute for Health Behavioural Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Jalan Rumah Sakit Bangsar, 50590, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;

关键词: Welfare institution;    adolescents;    sexual risk behaviour;    smoking;    family connectedness;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-S3-S9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn welfare institutions, it is essential to address the health-related needs of adolescent populations who often engage in sexual activities. This study examines the association between individual and interpersonal factors concerning sexual risk behaviour (SRB) among adolescents in welfare institutions in Malaysia.MethodsData were derived from a cross-sectional study of 1082 adolescents in 22 welfare institutions located across Peninsular Malaysia in 2009. Using supervised self-administered questionnaires, adolescents were asked to assess their self-esteem and to complete questions on pubertal onset, substance use, family structure, family connectedness, parental monitoring, and peer pressure. SRB was measured through scoring of five items: sexual initiation, age of sexual debut, number of sexual partners, condom use, and sex with high-risk partners. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the various predictors of sexual risk behaviour.ResultsThe study showed that 55.1% (95%CI = 52.0-58.2) of the total sample was observed to practice sexual risk behaviours. Smoking was the strongest predictor of SRB among male adolescents (OR = 10.3, 95%CI = 1.25-83.9). Among females, high family connectedness (OR = 3.13, 95%CI = 1.64-5.95) seemed to predict the behaviour.ConclusionThere were clear gender differences in predicting SRB. Thus, a gender-specific sexual and reproductive health intervention for institutionalised adolescents is recommended.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Nik Farid et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014