BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:
Youth
is a "crisis period", as it is a transitional period between
childhood and adulthood. This period incites the youth to have curiosity,
especially to sexual contents. As a result, they have higher risk behavior
leading to the percentage of newly HIV infected persons among youth in the
eastern region that is proportionally higher. This research aimed to study
factors related to sexual health behaviors among youth in universities located
in the eastern region of Thailand.
MATERIAL AND METHOD:
This
research was a cross-sectional survey research. The data collection process was
conducted from June-September 2011. There were 405 informants, who participated
in this study. They were students from both government and private universities
in the eastern region. The age of the youth was 20-24 years old. The students'
field of study varied. The tool of the study was self-answered questionnaires.
The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented
as frequency, percentage, average score, deviation standard scale, and it was
analyzed by Crude odds ratio.
RESULTS:
It was
found that three-fifths of the youth already had sexual experiences, and more
than half did not use condoms during their first-time sex. Regarding sexual
behavior, it was found that almost one-fourth of the students did not use
condoms at any time when they had sex, and did not negotiate for safer safe
when they had sex. The statistical significance was (p = 0.012, Crude OR =
1.65). Youth who already had sex had more chances to have unprotected sex than
those who never had sex (p = 0.014, Crude OR = 1.64). Youth who had casual sex
partner(s) had more chances to have unprotected sex than youth who did not have
casual sex partner(s) (p = 0.026, Crude OR = 1.78). Youth who had little
knowledge on AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases would have more chances to
have unprotected sex than youth who had high level of knowledge on these topics
(p = 0.010, Crude OR = 2.83). Youth who had negative attitudes towards safe sex
would have more chance to have unprotected sex than youth who had positive
attitudes towards safe sex (p = 0.002, Crude OR = 3.65).
CONCLUSION:
More
than half of the informants had sexual experiences. They did not use condoms
during their first-time intercourse. The study found that the factors, which
had a relationship with sexual behaviors showing statistical significance, were
as follows: gender, having sex in the past 3 months, having casual sex
partner(s) in the past 3 months, knowledge on AIDS and sexually transmitted
diseases, and attitude towards safe sex. This study's recommendation suggests
that the educational institutions and parents should contribute to the
knowledge and attitudes, and should support the life skills for safe sex
behavior
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