Risky sexual behavior and its associated factors among youth students of Pokhara metropolitan city.

Thesis Report.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction: Risky sexual behavior is defined as any sexual activity that increases the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. It includes having sex with multiple sexual partners, not using or inconsistent condom use, initiation of first sex at an early age, sex with commercial sex workers and sexual intercourse under the influence of substance use. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of risky sexual behavior and its associated factors among youth students of Pokhara metropolitan city.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done. The study population was youths aged 15-24 years currently studying in Grades 11/12 or bachelor level. The sample size was 850, interviewed in two strata (M/F). Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from the students. Bivariate (Chi-square test) and Multivariate (logistic regression) analysis was performed to assess the statistically significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Results: Overall, nearly a third (31%) of respondents ever had sexual intercourse, and the proportions were predominantly higher among males (44%) than females (19%). The overall prevalence of risky sexual behavior was 18.5%, while the prevalence among sexually active respondents was 60%. The variables significantly associated with risky sexual behavior in the chi-square test were sex, age, ethnicity, frequency of watching pornographic movies, consumption of alcohol in the past month, tobacco use, drug use, and having sexually active close friends or close friends having multiple sex partners or sex with commercial sex workers. Likewise, in logistic regression analysis, females were 72% (AOR=0.28 95% CI: 0.12-0.69) less likely than males and youths aged 2024 years were 72% (AOR=0.28, 95% CI:0.13-0.57) less likely to involve in risky sexual behavior than adolescents aged 15-19 years. Similarly, janajatis were almost 6 times AOR=5.56 95% CI:2.47-12.5) and Dalits/Madhesi/others were almost 2 times more likely to involve in risky sexual behavior than Brahmin/Chhetri.

Conclusion: This study shows the high prevalence of risky sexual behavior among youth students, with a significantly higher prevalence among adolescents, males and janajatis than their counterparts which emphasizes the need for appropriate interventions to create an enabling environment for youths to practice safe sexual behavior with a special focus on adolescents, males, and Janajatis.