The assessment of the University of Namibia student risky behaviour such as sexual multiple and concurrent partnerships
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Date
2019
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The risky behaviours such as concunent sexual partnerships is increasingly recognised as important in the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STis), particularly of heterosexual Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission in Africa. Modelling and empirical evidence suggest that concunent partnerships - compared to serial partnerships - can increase the size of an HIV epidemic, the speed at which it infects a population, and its persistence within a population. The purpose of this study was to assess the risky behaviours such as multiple and concunent sexual partners among students. The study further determined
the level of condom use and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) as mitigating factors of risky behaviours. A descriptive quantitative approach was used while a structured questionnaire was deployed in collecting primary data from participants. The study used stratified simple random sampling and involved 580 students. Findings of the study revealed that most students - 440 (76%) - were sexually active. The average age at first sex was found to be 19 years. This is
above the national average age at first sex which is 16.3 years. The study findings further revealed that out of the 440 sexually active respondents, 369 (84%) had sexual partners in the last six months prior to the study and only 71 (16%) did not have sexual partners. Out of 369 respondents, 154 (42%) were involved with more than one sexual partner in six months before the study while 215 (58%) respondents had one sexual partner. These 369 students had between
one and three partners within six months, the study found. The study further revealed that 286 (76%) respondents were involved with regular partners while 87 (24%) were sexually involved with casual partners. Of the 286 respondents, 171 (61 %) were females, indicating that more females had regular partners compared to males. On casual partners, more females (64%) were involved sexually with casual partners compared to males. Condom use among regular and casual partners varied significantly, the study revealed. For regular partners, 202 (72%) "always"
used condoms while 79 (28%) "sometimes" used condoms. Condom use among casual partners was high, with 82 (95%) "always" using condoms and 5 (5%) "sometimes" using condoms. The study further revealed that intergenerational sex was common among students, with 105 (28%) respondents out of 369 involved. Of the 105, more females (80%) were involved compared to males. Utilisation of voluntary counselling and testing services was found to be high with 431
(74%) ever tested. However, further analysis revealed that most of the tests were not recent. Those who were tested in the last six months were only 50 (12%) while 174 (40%) results were more than two years old. A majority of 179 ( 42%) of the respondents got tested at the New Start Centres, followed by 137 (32%) tested at public hospitals or clinics. Of the 149 respondents who said they were never tested, the highest number (23 (37%) females and 14 (16%) males) cited fear of knowing HIV status as the reason; while 16 (26%) females and 25 (29%) males indicated
they were not interested in knowing their HIV status. The study concluded that students were involved in tisky behaviours of multiple and concurrent sexual parinerships and that condom use was low and inconsistent. Utilisation of VCT was high but not recent, hence the study recommends that students should be encouraged to visit VCT services more frequently.
Description
A research thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Health
Keywords
Sexual behaviour, Multiple partners