Original article - Ethiopian Review

Local names were used to identify these diseases.Of the total 383 responding students, 349 (91.1%) have heard about AIDS. More male studentsknew that AIDS exists than the females [OR = 3.2; 95% CI=1.3,8.0]. Age was thought toconfound this result. It was found out that age was associated neither with sex nor with knowledge.Two hundred and ninety seven (85.1%) believed in its existence while 26 (7.4%) did not, and theremaining 26 (7.4%) were indifferent. Younger students (mean = 17.1 years) tended to believemore in the existence of AIDS compared to the older ones (18.3 years) [F 2 = 17.2; p < 0.05]. Onehundred and sixty six students (47.6%) claimed to have seen an AIDS patient and 114 (32.7%)were afraid of getting AIDS. Only 65 (18.6%) felt that they could acquire AIDS. Boys felt morevulnerable to acquire AIDS (OR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.4, 4.7) and were afraid of getting AIDS (OR =2.3; 95% CI = 1.4, 3.7) than the girls. Rural students tended to be more afraid of getting AIDSthan the urban ones (OR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.04, 2.8). Finally, those who were sexually active feltmore prone to acquire AIDS (OR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.04, 3.4). The most preferred methods ofprevention of acquisition of AIDS mentioned were, having single sexual partner only by 219(62.9%), using condoms by 64 (18.4%) and abstention from sex by 50 (14.4%) students. Othermethods mentioned were having occasional sex, sex with healthy people and with few sexualpartners.Of the same 202 female students who completed the second section of the self-reportingquestionnaire on issues related to contraception and pregnancies, 44 (21.8% of all females) werefound to be sexually active. Out of these, 15 (34.1%) have used one of the contraceptive methods.The reported methods were oral contraceptive pill (OCP) by 10/15 (66.7%), two had usedinjectables, one used the rhythm method, others condoms and one did not specify. Out of all thesexually active students, 11 (25%) are currently using at least one of the contraceptive methods.Seven used OCP, two rhythm method, and two used injectable. Sources of these contraceptiveswere health institutions. Out of the 191 non- users at the moment (these include both sexuallyactive and in-active ones), 45 (23.5%) are planning to use either of the methods in the future. Outof these, 39 were specific about their plans. (Injectable by 16, OCP by 17, the rhythm method by4, condom by one and Norplant by the other). The three most common reasons for not utilizingcontraceptives till to date among the sexually active ever non-users (29) were fear of side effectsby seven (24.1%), refusal by the male partner by six (20.7%) and family influence by four(13.8%). Other reasons given were unavailability, cultural influence and religious prohibition.Table 2 shows the known contraceptive methods by the students. Of all analyzed, 33 (16.3%)knew no methods at all. The commonest sources of information about contraceptives were theschool for 50 (29.6%) students, mass media for 49 (29%), health institutions for 19 (11.2%) andfriends/relatives for 13 (7.7%). The most preferred methods of contraception are also shown inTable 2.Out of the 156 respondents, 115 (73.7%) would prefer to deliver the baby at term if pregnancyoccurred whereas 41 (26.3%) preferred abortion. Twenty seven (65.9%) preferred termination athealth institutions. Only 5 preferred induction in the villages and the remaining nine were not surewhat to do.Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of the study population, Kolla Diba, November 1994.Male(n=181) Female(n=202) TotalVariable Freq. % Freq. % Freq. %AddressUrban 157 86.8 80 39.6 237 61.9Rural 24 13.2 122 60.4 146 38.1Age (years)12 - 15 24 13.3 70 34.7 94 24.516 - 19 113 62.4 129 63.9 242 63.220 - 23 34 18.8 3 1.5 37 9.724 - 27 6 3.3 0 6 1.628 - 31 4 2.2 0 4 1.0Marital status