Abstract:

The objective of this study is to determine the sexual patterns among their school and out of school adolescents in Kavango region, Namibia and identify the association between the socio-demographic characteristics of the adolescents and their sexual behaviors.

A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted using mixed methods - quantitative and qualitative approaches among 350 school learners (grade 6 to grade 12) and 150 school dropout adolescents (aged 12 to 18 years). The stratified random sampling techniques were used in the selections of the circuit and the schools. Structured questionnaires were used in face-to-face interviews, and in depth interviews were conducted among the key informants (teachers). The following variables include the demographics (age, grade, parent marital status, and school drop-out status), sexual behavior (age at first sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners, abortion, and age at abortion), economic (employment, financial support).

Descriptive statistics was used to summarise the above-mentioned variables. Cross-tabulations of demographic, sexual and economic variables were used to describe the relative frequencies.

The associations between different categorical variables were assessed using Chi-square test whilst the identification of different determining factors was analyzed with the epidemiological methods using odds ratios and/or estimated relative risks. The means, standard deviation and 95 % confidence interval were computed. The differences between different variables or factors were considered to be statistically significant for p-values less than 0.05.

The study found that early sexual debut, first sexual intercourse, number of sexual partners, relationship with sexual partners older than 5 years and dropping out of schoolwere associated with adolescent pregnancy in Kavango region.

Keywords: Adolescence, Adolescents, Reproductive health, Sexual behaviors, Sex education.

References:

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