Substance use and risky sexual behaviours among sexually experienced Ghanaian youth

BMC Public Health

Research Article

David Doku¹ 

[1] Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana;

关键词: Sexual behaviour;    Adolescents;    Aggregation of risky behaviours;    Ghana;    Socioeconomic status;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-12-571

 received in 2012-01-25, accepted in 2012-06-15,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe association between risky sexual behaviours and substance uses among Ghanaian youth were investigated.MethodsAn in-school cross-sectional representative survey was conducted among 12-18-year- old youth in Ghana in 2008 (N = 1195, response rate =90%). Logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate the association between substance use (tobacco use, drunkenness, marijuana use and other drug uses) and risky sexual behaviours (sexual debut, condom use and number of sexual partners).ResultsOf all youth, 25% (28% boys and 23% girls) were sexually experienced. The mean age for first sexual intercourse was 14.8 years (14.4 years for boys and 15.1 years for girls). Among the sexually experienced, 31% had multiple sexual partners. Older age (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 1.7-3.4) and rural residency (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1-2.1) were independently associated with sexual debut while only older age (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.7-3.4) was associated with condom use. Additionally, smoking (OR = 3.7, 95% CI = 2.0-6.8), tawa use (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.3-4.7), tobacco use (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.7-4.7) drunkenness (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.8) and marijuana use (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 1.6-7.0) were independently associated with sexual debut. Furthermore, all substance uses studied were associated with having one or multiple sexual partners.ConclusionSubstance use seems to be a gateway for risky sexual behaviours among Ghanaian youth. Public health interventions should take into account the likelihood of substance use among sexually experienced youth.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Doku; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012