Relationship Between Socio-Demographic Variables and Risky Sexual Behaviour among Undergraduates in Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: Significant empirical surveys have been made to investigate sociodemographic factors contributing to Risky Sexual Behaviours among young people. However, there are concerns regarding what influences Risky Sexual Behaviours. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between the sociodemographic variables and Risky Sexual Behaviours among undergraduate students in tertiary institutions. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students at two tertiary institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria to investigate the relationship between sociodemographic variables and Risky Sexual Behaviours. Undergraduate students in years one and two from departments of Nursing Science and Medicine and Surgery in PAMO University of Medical Sciences and University of Port Harcourt, College of Medicine were recruited for the study. Two hundred and eighty (280) undergraduate students were randomly selected from a total of 491 as participants in the study. Descriptive and inferential analysis of data using SPSS version 20 was done. Results: Data showed that 60% of the respondents were from the University of Port Harcourt, while 40% were from PAMO University of Medical Sciences. The majority of the students (78.9%) were between 16 -20years, while only 0.7% of the students were ≥31years. Findings revealed that there is no significant relationship between respondents’ sociodemographic variables and awareness of, attitude to risky sexual behaviour. It was found that only gender and age significantly influence practices with an R2 of 0.22. Conclusion: Risky sexual behaviour among young people is significantly associated with age and gender.