Determinants of condom use among Agaro High School students using behavioral models

Abstract

Introduction: HIV/AIDS has been spreading in an alarming rate since the beginning of the pandemic. It is estimated that at least half of the infected ones are between 15-24 years. This has called for a concerted effort to save this segment of the population for many reasons. Since the major mode of transmission is heterosexual contact its interventions are focused mainly on the prevention aspect. Condoms remain the integral part of HIV prevention programmes. The prevalence of condom use is low despite all efforts to improve the use of it.


Objective: The aim of this study was to assess factors affecting condom use among students of Agaro High School using health behavioral models.


Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 360 students using structured pretested questionnaire in February 2001.


Result: Three hundred sixty students responded from the sampled 363 students making a response rate of 99%. Among these, 90(25%) of them had history of sexual intercourse. The average age of sexual debut was 16.74 years. Among those who had previous sexual exposure, 49(54.4%) used condom at least once. Of these, 23(46.9%) were using condom always. Normative belief was found to be a predictor for males. Self-efficacy was found to be associated with intention to use condom among males.


Discussion: The result of this research show that parts of models, which are relevant to our socio cultural characteristics as predictors of condom use. The findings of this research also serve as baseline for future large-scale studies. The prospect of incorporating these findings in the process of information education and communication has been discussed.


[Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2004;18(1):25-30]