HIV Risk Practices of Students in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the HIV risk practices of students in South Western Nigeria Tertiary Institutions. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and a multistage random sampling technique was used to select 450 subjects. The instrument for data collection was a close ended multiple choice questionnaire designed by the researcher and built around the research questions. The reliability was established through test-retest method and a correlation of 0.84 was obtained. The researcher personally administered the instruments and retrieved them immediately after completion, and a 100% retrieval rate was achieved. Data was analyzed using frequency counts; mean of scores; and standard deviation; while analysis of variance was used to test the hypothesis with the alpha level set at 0.05.The findings of this study show that: HIV risk practices of students in South Western Nigeria tertiary institutions are not favourable and nature of institution has no significant influence on HIV risk practices among students in South Western Nigeria tertiary institutions. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that: Health education should be intensified at all levels of our educational system so as to sustain and possibly improve on the present health knowledge, the mass media should be used to expose the various HIV risk practices and the implication of such practices on HIV infection so as to bring about positive behavioural change and students should be encouraged to form HIV prevention clubs that will use peer influence to effect behavioural change on campuses.

Key words: HIV risk practices and students.