ORIGINAL ARTICLES HIV Knowledge and Screening Practices among In-School Adolescents in a Semi-Urban Community of Osun State, Southwest Nigeria
No Thumbnail Available
Date
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Description
Background: Adolescents and youths are currently one of the main sub-populations
responsible for most Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) new cases in Nigeria due to their
high-risk sexual practices. Yet, most Nigerian adolescents have poor HIV knowledge and are
not aware of their HIV status.
Study objectives: We assessed respondents' HIV knowledge, their attitude to screening,
testing practice and identified predictors of HIV screening among youths (15-24 years old)
in Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria.
Methods: Cross-sectional design was employed and a multistage sampling method was
used to recruit 360 eligible schooling youths in three secondary schools (private and public
coeducational schools). A semi-structured, interviewer administered questionnaire was used
for data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out at p < 0.05.
Results: Mean age (±SD) of the respondents was 15±4.71 years. The majority (75.6%) of the
respondents had heard about HIV. Overall, only 57.6% of respondents possessed a
comprehensive knowledge of HIV but a majority (80.6%) of them had a positive attitude to
HIV screening. Only 20.6% of the respondents had ever screened for HIV, 70.0% of them
had pre-and post-test counselling. The most prevalent reason for non-screening is fear of
getting a positive result (48.3%). Predictors of HIV screening uptakes included respondents'
age (AOR = 2.95; 95%CI = 2.25-6.01), school type (AOR = 2.9;95%CI = 1.99-11.25), class
level (AOR = 3.21;95% CI = 2.13-8.12) and attitude to screening (AOR = 2.51;95% CI = 2.01-
6.39).
Conclusion: Despite a high awareness rate and overwhelming positive attitude, HIV
screening practice was low in the study setting. There is a need for health policymakers to
further prioritise adolescents and youths in the race to end HIV epidemics in Nigeria.
Keywords
Q Science (General), QC Physics