The role of HIV counselling and testing in sexual health behaviour change among undergraduates in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

In developing countries risky sexual behaviour among young people is on the increase. This study examined the likelihood of HIV counselling and testing (HCT) in reducing risky sexual behaviour among undergraduates in Lagos Metropolis in Nigeria. The main hypothesis tested in the study was the uptake of HCT is likely to reduce risky sexual behaviour among young undergraduates. A multistage sampling procedure was adopted to select a sample of 625 undergraduates in the study setting. A structured questionnaire was administered to respondents to elicit information on previous participation in HCT and sexual behaviour before and after participation. Result indicates that 26.1% of males and 28.9% of females ever participated in HCT. The average number of heterosexual partners kept by the respondents declined among males and females from 3.17 and 2.36, respectively before they participated in HCT to 2.27 and 1.6 after they participated in HCT. The differences in the average number of sexual partners by the respondents before and after they participated in HCT were statistically significant (P=0.000). The proportion of male respondents who engaged in frequent sex also declined from 35.8% (before participating in HCT) to 24.1% (after participating in HCT) and from 25% (before participating in HCT) to 24.7% (after participating in HCT) among females. In conclusion, participation in HCT is likely to reduce the prevalence of risky sexual behaviour among undergraduates in the study setting. Therefore, HCT is an intervention that should be emphasized.