Assessment of Sexual Behaviour and Condom Use Among Married or Cohabiting Couples in Nekemte Town, East Wollega, Ethiopia
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2010-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among married women or
those in committed partnerships are increasing rapidly. Most HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa occurs
during heterosexual intercourse between couples in a relationship. The primary mode of HIV transmission
in Ethiopia is via heterosexual contact. Over 90% of adult cases of HIV in Ethiopia are attributable to
heterosexual activity.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess sexual behavior and condom use among married /
cohabiting couples in Nekemte town.
METHODS: A community based cross sectional survey was conducted from February to March, 2010 in
Nekemte town. The data was collected through quantitative and qualitative methods. Two multistage
sampling techniques were used. In the first stage, simple random sampling technique was used to select
the kebeles. In the second stage, systematic random sampling was used to select 768 couples (768 males
and 768 females) and 1536 individuals from 768 households were interviewed.
RESULTS: The prevalence of premarital sexual intercourse was 30.6% among married/cohabiting men
and 19.7% among women. However, the transition of premarital sex to marriage among those who had
premarital sex (235 men Vs 151 women) was low, 40 (17.0%) among men and 40 (26.5%) among women.
About seven percent of males and 2.1% of females’ respondents reported that they had extramarital
partners and about 4% of males reported having had more than one sexual partner in last 12 months.
Despite this the prevalence of ever use of condoms was 5.4% (95% CI 4.3, 6.5%) and 4% (95% CI 3.0,
5%) in the past 12 months. In multivariate analysis, number of life time sexual partners, perceived risk of
HIV infection, suspecting spouse having extramarital partner and discussion about condom had significant
association with condom use in both sexes.
CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that some married /cohabiting people engaged in risky sexual behaviors
or extramarital partner, condom use among couples has remained very low
Description
Keywords
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)