Use of HIV Screening Services and Sexual Behavior of In-School Adolescents in Surulere LGA, Lagos State

Abstract

Background: The health and development of populations irrespective of where they live is dependent on their behaviour. Adolescents constitute a huge chunk of the global population. A high proportion of the burden of diseases therefore occur in this age group as well. The maturation process occurs throughout this period and behaviours adopted often last for life and are determinants of healthy adult life. High prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections including Human Immunodeficiency Virus has been documented in adolescents.
Objective: This study was carried out to assess the use of HIV screening services and sexual behaviour of in-school adolescents in Surulere an urban community in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Methods: Cross sectional descriptive study design was used. Simple random sampling was used to select 9 public senior secondary schools in Surulere Local Government Area. All the enrolled and willing students in SSS3 who were available during the period of data collection were included in the study (1,029). Information was collected with a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done with Epi info version 3.5.4. Frequency tables were generated and analysis was explored using chi square at p<0.05.
Results: The mean age was 16years.Majority of the students were in the 15-19years age bracket, females, Christians and lived in monogamous homes. All the three arms namely commercial class, arts class and science class were included. Less than one tenth of the students 90 (8.9%) had been screened for HIV infection. Among this group, more than half had tested once and 37.8% tested because they had participated in risky behavior. Fifteen percent were sexually active, among this group 20% engaged in transactional sex. Only 36.8% used condom at first sex which increased to 57.2% at last sex, however consistent condom use was practiced by 22.4%. Students who are sexually experienced (p<0.001) were more likely to have been screened while those in science class (p=0.012) were more willing to screen for HIV. Male students were more likely to have had sex (p<0.001).Compared to Science and Commercial students, those in Arts class were more likely to have had sex (p=0.004), use condoms (p=0.017) and use it consistently (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Even though the adolescents in this study engage in risky sexual behaviour, use of HCT services and other STI prevention strategies was poor. It is essential that young people have access to and utilize all HIV prevention tools at their disposal.

Keyword: HIV screening, sexual behaviour, adolescent, Nigeria