Determinants of Adolescent Premarital Sex in 18 African Countries

Sitawa R. Kimuna, East Carolina University1, and Yanyi K. Djamba, Auburn University at Montgomery2,

Global Technical Meeting Washington, D.C.; April 2-3, 2014

Why Focus on African Teens?

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 68 percent of all people living with HIV (UNAIDS 2011) The majority of HIV infections in Africa are transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse In many Sub-Saharan African countries, most HIV cases are reported among young people

Given the long incubation period of HIV infection, many of the people living with HIV/AIDS were infected when they were teenagers

Purpose of the Study and Data

The purpose of this presentation is to show some preliminary results on:
Levels of premarital sex among unmarried teenagers Explore the association between socio-demographic characteristics and premarital sex Explore the association between socio-demographic characteristics and condom use

Compare findings across countries

Data come from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2004-2008 in 18 countries; both males and females are included in the analysis

Variables Had premarital sex Condom use at last sex Age

Categories Yes (has had sex), No (has not had sex) Used, not used 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

Type of place of residence Urban, rural Level of education No education, Primary, Secondary

Relationship to household Daughter, Other head Sex of household head Male, Female

Significant associations between independent variables and premarital sex in logistic regression models
Variables Age Urban residence Level of education Daughter/Son of household head Living in male headed household Women All countries (+) Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, Niger, & Rwanda, (+); Cameroon & Ghana (-) Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali & Uganda (+); Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland (-) Benin, Cameroon, Congo-DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Rwanda, & Uganda (-) Ethiopia & Lesotho (-) Men All countries (+) Benin, Congo-Brazza & Malawi (-) Cameroon, Chad, CongoBrazza, Ethiopia, Guinea, & Liberia (+); Malawi (-) Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Swaziland & Uganda (-) Congo-Brazza (-)

Significant associations between independent variables and use of condom at last sexual intercourse in logistic regression models
Variables Age Urban residence Women Benin & Liberia(+); Malawi & Zimbabwe (-) Benin, Cameroon, CongoDRC, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe (+) Men Guinea & Uganda(+) Cameroon, CongoBrazza, Congo-DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia, Namibia, Uganda & Zimbabwe (+)

Level of education Benin, Cameroon, Guinea, Benin, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Uganda (+) Mali, Namibia, Uganda & Zimbabwe (+)
Daughter/Son of household head Living in male headed household None Zimbabwe (+) Congo-Brazza (+) None

Conclusion
High percentages of never married teens have had premarital sex, but there are substantial variations by gender and country There are also large differences in report of condom use by gender and country These findings call for the design of country specific and gender appropriate comprehensive sex education programs to prevent sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies

THANK YOU
Global Technical Meeting, Washington, D.C.; April 2-3, 2014