Knowledge, Age at Sexual Debut and Sexual Behaviour of Secondary School Adolescents in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
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Abstract
Sexual behaviours of adolescents have implications for both present and future health and development. The study assessed the knowledge about sex and sexuality issues, the sexual behaviours of adolescents in Akure metropolis and factors associated with it. The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Akure, Nigeria. Four hundred in-school adolescents in selected secondary schools in the study area were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. A structured pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data, which was analyzed using SPSS version 23. The results were presented in tables and figures. The mean age of the adolescents was 15.7±3.5years and 229(59.5%) were females. About 74(18.6%) of the respondents had a boy/girlfriend. Most of the respondents had good knowledge about sex and sexuality-related issues, while more than half of them 211(53%) learnt about sex and sexuality-related matters from the media. Few 79(19.8%) of the adolescents had engaged in sexual intercourse, and 29(36.8%) of these had their sexual debut before 12 years of age; while 18(22.8%) of them used condoms during their first sexual encounter. Association between respondents' class and parents' family type with adolescents' knowledge about sex and sexuality issues were statistically significant (p-value <0.05). Respondents' gender and parents' marital status had a statistically significant association with respondents’ engagement in sexual intercourse (p-value <0.05). Many of the adolescents had good knowledge about sex and sexuality-related issues, while few were already sexually active. Adolescent sexuality education should be given priority attention by the government and other relevant institutions.
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