Sexual Behaviours of Secondary School Students in Port Harcourt

Background: Sexual behaviours of adolescents are currently receiving global attention because a high proportion of new HIV and other sexually transmitted infections’ diagnosis are among young people. This study aimed to assess the sexual behaviours of secondary school students in Port Harcourt.
Methods: This is a school-based cross sectional descriptive study, carried out in six public secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis in Rivers State, Nigeria in February 2014. A structured pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1047 senior secondary 1 to 3 students selected through multistage sampling technique. Information sought included socio-demographics, if they have had sexual intercourse, age at first sex, involvement in sexual intercourse in the last 3 months before the survey, condom use and number of sex partners. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 statistical software. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were done to describe socio-demographics and sexual behaviours of study participants and to identify independently associated factors.
Results: One thousand and forty seven students participated in the study; mean age 16.19±1.64 SD. Five hundred and thirty seven (51.3%) females and 510 (48.7%) males, male: female ratio was 0.9: 1. Four hundred and forty nine (42.9%) students reported having had sex at least once in their life time. Mean age at first sexual intercourse was 13.37±3.66SD. More females reported having sex compared to the males (χ2=7.357, P=.007). The commonest reason for having sex was because their friends had also had sex. Two hundred and seventy eight (61.9%) students reportedly had sex in the past 3 months before the survey, out of which 14.0% had sex with 4 or more sexual partners and 18% had sex more than once a week. Nineteen point eight percent of the currently sexually active students used condom during their last sexual intercourse. One hundred and forty six (27.2%) females had been pregnant at least once, out of which 75.3% had induced abortion. Students who watched pornographic movies (OR=2.189, CI=1.624-2.951) and those who dated the opposite sex (OR=2.839, CI=2.092-3.851) were 2 times more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse than those who didn’t. Students who were sexually harassed were 5 times more likely to be sexually experienced than those who were not sexually harassed (OR=5.927, CI=4.408-7.971).
Conclusion: There was a high rate of risky sexual behaviours amongst the secondary school students in Port Harcourt. Intervention program aimed at sexuality education and behavioural change should be inculcated into secondary school education curriculum in Port Harcourt.