Prevalence and Correlates of Multiple Sexual Partnerships among Private College Students in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Multiple sexual partnership is having two or more sexual partners that overlapped in time; indi- viduals who have concurrent sexual partners increase their risk of HIV infections. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of multiple sexual partnerships among private college students in Bahir dar city. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Oct. 2012 among 790 private college students of Bahir Dar city using multistage sampling technique. A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were coded, entered, cleaned and analyzed using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis with SPSS version 16 soft ware package. Results: About 50.7% of respondents were sexually active. Multiple sexual partnerships were reported by 45.3% of sexually active respon- dents. Male respondents were more likely to have multiple sexual partners compared to females (AOR=4.76; CI:3.02-7.51), students who were living alone in rented house were about two times more likely to have multiple sexual partners com- pared to those live with their family (AOR=2.02;CI: 1.25-3.27). Besides, students who have peer pressure were about six times more likely to have multiple sexual partners compared to those don’t have (AOR=5.99;CI: 3.66-9.81). Moreover, respondents who drank alcohol were more likely to have multiple sex partners compared to those who never drank (AOR=3.20; CI: 2.02- 5.08). Conclusion: Large proportions of students engaged in multiple sexual partnerships. There were variables associated with multiple sexual partnerships. Therefore, interventions targeting on these factors were rec- ommended.