Tanzania Health Research Bulletin Health User's Trust Fund (HRUTF) ISSN: 0856-6496 Vol. 9, Num. 3, 2007, pp. 159-163

Tanzania Health Research Bulletin, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2007, pp. 159-163

Prevalence of sexual intercourse among school-going adolescents in Coast Province, Kenya

E. RUDATSIKIRA¹, A.E.O. OGWELL², S. SIZIYA³* and A.S. MUULA⁴

¹Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Global Health, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States
²Department of International Health Relations, Ministry of Health, Kenya
³Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
⁴Department of Community Health, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi
*Correspondence: Seter Siziya; E-mail: ssizi@yahoo.com

Code Number: rb07027

Abstract

A study was carried out to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of sexual intercourse among school adolescents in Coast Province, Kenya. Data were obtained through the Kenya Global School-Based Health Survey. Overall the prevalence of sexual intercourse within the last 12 months was 14.9% (22.2% in males and 5.0% in females). Among males, the protective factors against having sex were being of age <15 years (OR=0.60, 95%CI 0.58, 0.62) and ever been drunk (OR=0.63, 95%CI 0.59, 0.67).  The risk factors for having sex among males were ever smoked (OR=2.05, 95%CI 1.92, 2.19), having close friends (OR=1.68, 95%CI 1.56, 1.81), currently drinking alcohol (OR=1.13, 95%CI 1.06, 1.20), ever used drugs (OR=2.36, 95%CI 2.24, 2.49) and parental supervision (OR=1.30, 95%CI 1.25, 1.34).  Meanwhile among female respondents, parental supervision was protective (OR=0.88, 95%CI 0.81, 0.94) and the only risk factor was ever used drugs (OR=2.85, 95%CI 2.57, 3.15). It is suggested that public health interventions aimed to promote adolescent sexual health should be designed with the appreciation of the factors associated with sexual activity in due consideration.

Keyword: adolescent health, sexual intercourse, HIV/AIDS, Kenya 

Introduction

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are a major public health problem in East Africa.  In 2003, 8.7% of men and 4.6% of women of age 15-49 years in Kenya were HIV positive. The HIV prevalence in the Coast Province was 6.6% for females and 4.8% for males (Marum et al. 2004).  In sub-Saharan Africa adolescent females are especially at risk of acquiring HIV through heterosexual intercourse. For example, in Kenya, 3.0% of females aged 15-19 years and only 0.4% of males of the same age group were HIV positive in 2003 (Marum et al. 2004). Early sexual debut, limited knowledge and poor appreciation of sexual health have been reported as among major predisposing factors in HIV transmission among adolescent in East Africa. Bongaarts (2007) observed a positive correlation between early sexual debut and HIV infection in Kenya. Mushi et al. (2007) have reported on limited knowledge and poor appreciation of sexual health among students in Mtwara, Tanzania.  Todd et al. (2004) reported that among students in Mwanza, Tanzania 0.9% had Chlamydia trachomatis, 0.1% had Neisseria gonorrhoea infection and 0.8% of females were found positive in a urine pregnancy test.

Much of the HIV transmission I n Africa is through heterosexual intercourse. There are some emerging data that iatrogenic factors could be contributing a much larger role in HIV transmission than has been recognised (Biraro et al., 2007; Whitworth et al., 2007). Behavioural or lifestyle factors that are associated with HIV transmission among adults in Kenya have been described (Johnson & Way, 2006; Hargreaves, 2007). Little attention however, has been directed towards understanding factors that may be associated with HIV transmission among school-going adolescents. Also when reported, data are from only a limited area that extrapolation to a wider region of the country is difficult to make. In this paper, therefore we report on the prevalence of sexual intercourse in the last 12 months and associated factors among school-going adolescents in Coast Province of Kenya.

Materials and Methods

Source of data

Our study involved secondary analysis of existing data available from the Kenya Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in 2003. The GSHS developed by WHO in collaboration with UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNAIDS with technical assistance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA aims to provide data on health and other social behaviours among students. The GSHS uses a two-stage probability sampling technique. In the first stage, primary sampling units are schools which are selected with a probability proportional to their enrolment size. In the second step of sampling a systematic sample of classes in the selected schools are obtained. All students in the selected classes were eligible to participate. Study participants were drawn from standards 7 and 8 and forms 1 and 2. A self-completed questionnaire was used. The sample was selected to be representative of the Coast Province of Kenya within a national sample.

Data analysis

Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 11.5 software. Our main outcome variable was self-reported history of sexual intercourse within the past 12 months. Explanatory variables included: age, gender, current cigarette smoking, alcohol use, having ever been drunk, illicit drug use, self assessment of parental supervision and having friends.

A weighting factor was used in the analysis to reflect the likelihood of sampling each student and to reduce bias by compensating for differing patterns of non response. The weight used for estimation is given by the following formula:

W = W1 * W2 * f1 * f2 *f3 *f4,

Where:
W1= the inverse of the probability of selecting the school

W2=  the inverse of the probability of selecting the classroom within the school

fl= a school-level non response adjustment factor calculated by school size category (small, medium, large)

f2= a class-level non response adjustment factor calculated for each school

f3= a student-level non response adjustment factor calculated by class

f4 = a post stratification adjustment factor calculated by grade.

A backward logistic regression analysis using only complete case analysis to estimate the association between relevant predictor variables and sexual intercourse in the last 12 months was conducted. Odds ratios (OR) are reported for selected predictor variables while considering sexual intercourse in the last 12 months as a dependent variable.

Results 

One hundred and thirty-six (55.7%) males and 106 (44.3%) females participated in the study. Ten (10.3%) of the participants reported to have ever smoked cigarettes, 6.0% were current smokers while 9.1% reported being current users of alcohol. Overall 14.9% of the participants had sexual intercourse in the last 12 months, 22.2% and 5.0% among males and females, respectively (Table 1).

Table 1:  Socio-demographic characteristics of study participants (Males=136; Females= 106)

Key: n* = un-weighted frequencies; (%)**= weighted percent

In bivariate analyses to assess the associations between sexual intercourse in the past 12 months and selected predictor variables, being males, having used illicit drugs, having close friends, alcohol use, cigarette smoking and being ≥15 years were positively associated with the outcome. Having parental supervision was negatively associated with having had sex in the last 12 months.  Among female respondents, only ever smoked, ever used drugs and lack of parental supervision were positively associated with the outcome (Table 2).

Table 2: Bivariate logistic regression analysis of factors associated with sexual intercourse in the past 12 months among adolescents in Kenya

 A multivariate logistic regression was also conducted to assess independent predictors for sexual intercourse (Table 3). Age and ever been drunk were found to be protective against having engaged in sexual intercourse.  Male adolescents of age <15 years were 40% (OR=0.60, 95%CI 0.58, 0.62) less likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse compared to those who were older.  Male adolescents who had ever been drunk were 37% (OR=0.63, 95%CI 0.59, 0.67) less likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse compared to those who had never been drunk.

Table 3:  Multivariate analyses of factors associated with sexual intercourse in the last 12 months among adolescents in Kenya

Key: - suggests there were not enough observations for the model to converge

Ever smoked, having close friends, currently drinking alcohol, ever used drugs and parental supervision were the risk factors for having engaged in sexual intercourse among males. Males adolescents who had ever smoked were 2.05 (95%CI 1.92, 2.19) times more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse compared to those who had never smoked. Having close friends was associated with 68% (OR=1.68, 95%CI 1.56, 1.81) risk for having engaged in sexual intercourse.  Male adolescents who acknowledged to take alcohol were 13% (OR=1.13, 95%CI 1.06, 1.20) more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse than those who did not drink alcohol.  Male adolescents who had ever used drugs were 2.36 (95%CI 2.24, 2.49) times more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse than those who had never used drugs. Lack of parental supervision was associated with 30% (OR=1.30, 95%CI 1.25, 1.34) risk for having engaged in sexual intercourse.

Among female adolescents, those who had ever used drugs were 2.85 (95%CI 2.57, 3.15) times more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse compared to those who had never used drugs.  Lack of parental supervision was protective against having engaged in sexual intercourse.  Female adolescents who sometimes or never had parental supervision were 12% (OR=0.88, 95%CI 0.81, 0.94) less likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse compared to those who always or most of the time had parental supervision.

Discussion

Our study showed that adolescents who engaged in sexual intercourse in the past 12 months were also more likely to have used illicit drugs, drunken alcohol and smoked cigarettes. Recently, Ohene et al. (2005) described the “clustering” of unhealthy or risk behaviours among Caribbean youth. Kabede et al. (2005) reported that use of alcohol and psycho-stimulant drugs among youth in Ethiopia was associated with unsafe sexual practices. This finding has also been corroborated by Lee at al. (2006) in Malaysia and Palen et al. (2006) in South Africa.

Klavs et al. (2006) have reported that lack of parental supervision was associated with sexual risk taking behaviours among adolescents in Slovenia. In this study, the odds of sexual intercourse among adolescents who reported having minimal or no sex was 1.21 times that for adolescents who reported being supervised by parents most of the times. The role of parents in promoting adolescent sexual health cannot therefore be overemphasised. Moreover, the odds of having sex were 1.89 among adolescent having more close friends compared to those who reported none. This could be due to several reasons. It is plausible to consider that some of the close friends of adolescents were also sex partners. An adolescent with close friends may therefore find it easier to recruit a sex partner from the friendship pool. Secondly peer influence could affect an individual’s likelihood of engaging in sex. It has been reported recently that having a friend who was sexually active and perception that sexual activity would earn an individual respect from friends influenced some adolescent to engage in sexual intercourse (Sieving et al., 2006).

Our study had some limitations. Only adolescents in school were sampled. To the extent that in school adolescents differ from out of school adolescents, our findings may not be applicable to out of school adolescents. Also the questionnaire was self-completed by study participants. As some of the questions asked personally sensitive questions, it is possible that some participants may have intentionally misreported. We were unable to assess the association between some of the predictor variables and sexual intercourse among females due to small numbers of observations.

In conclusion, gender, use of alcohol and illicit drug, cigarette smoking and having close friends are likely to be factors associated with HIV transmission in Coast Province of Kenya. The design, implementation and evaluation of public health intervention aimed to promote adolescent sexual health should be cognisant of these associated factors.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

The University of Malawi, College of Medicine, provided support to ASM through the Junior Faculty Training programme. We are thankful to the study participants and research assistants.  We also thank the Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention for providing public access to the data.

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