Self-reported sexually transmitted infections among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa

Louis Kobina Dadzie; Ebenezer Agbaglo; Joshua Okyere; Richard Gyan Aboagye; Francis Arthur-Holmes; Abdul-Aziz Seidu; Bright Opoku Ahinkorah

doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihab088

Self-reported sexually transmitted infections among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa

Int Health. 2022 Nov 1;14(6):545-553. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihab088.

Authors

Louis Kobina Dadzie¹, Ebenezer Agbaglo², Joshua Okyere¹, Richard Gyan Aboagye³, Francis Arthur-Holmes⁴, Abdul-Aziz Seidu^{5

6

7}, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
² Department of English, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
³ School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
⁴ Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong.
⁵ Department of Estate Management, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana.
⁶ Centre for Gender and Advocacy, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana.
⁷ College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
⁸ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect individuals of all ages, but adolescent girls and young women are disproportionately affected. We examined the prevalence and factors associated with self-reported STIs (SR-STIs) among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: Demographic and Health Survey data of 27 sub-Saharan African countries were used for the study. The sample size comprised 68944 adolescent girls and young women (15-24 y of age). The outcome variable was SR-STIs. Multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with SR-STIs.

Results: On average, the prevalence of SR-STIs among adolescent girls and young women in SSA was 6.92%. The likelihood of SR-STIs was higher among young women aged 20-24 y (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.36 [confidence interval {CI} 1.27 to 1.46]), those not married (aOR 1.64 [CI 1.51 to 1.79]), those working (aOR 1.20 [CI 1.12 to 1.27]), those whose age at first sex was ≤19 y (aOR 1.99 [CI 1.80 to 2.20]), those with two or more sex partners (aOR 1.56 [CI 1.35 to 1.80]), those who listened to radio (aOR 1.26 [CI 1.17 to 1.35]), those in urban areas (aOR 1.42 [CI 1.30 to 1.51]) and those with a wealth index of rich (aOR 1.28 [CI 1.17 to 1.40]) compared with their counterparts. In contrast, those with a primary (aOR 0.86 [CI 0.78 to 0.94]) or secondary/higher level of education (aOR 0.83 [CI 0.75 to 0.92]) compared with those with no formal education and those who were exposed to television (aOR 0.90 [CI 0.84 to 0.98]) compared with those who were not exposed were less likely to report STIs.

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the need for countries in SSA to commit towards reducing the incidence of STIs. Community-based health educational programs are required to intensify the awareness of STIs and their prevention in various sub-Saharan African countries considering the factors that expose adolescent girls and young women to STIs.

Keywords: adolescent girls; prevalence; self-reported sexually transmitted infections; sub-Saharan Africa; young women.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Female
Humans
Marriage
Multilevel Analysis
Prevalence
Self Report
Sexually Transmitted Diseases* / epidemiology