Background: Adolescents and youths are known to be an adventurous group, and often engage in risky behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, using drugs, and early unprotected sexual activity. University students are viewed as being at higher risks to acquire STI or HIV infection and they are categorized under the most at risk population segments due to their inclination to be engaged in risky sexual behavior. Methods: Institutional based descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted from May 2018 to June 2018 among Jigjiga University students in Jigjiga, Ethiopia. A total of 403 study participants were included in the study. Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for interviewing the study participants. The collected data was coded and entered in to EPI-INFO version 3.5.3 software and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Binary logit econometric model was employed. The association between variables was analyzed using Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression and the level of significance of association was determined at P-value < 0.05. Results: A total of 403 (out of which 260 (65%) were male and 143(35%) female) university students participated in this study with 97% response rate. The result indicates that, age [AOR = 3.82, 95% CI, (2.28, 9.41)], active in my faith/religion [AOR = 3.68, 95% CI, (1.344, 10.115)], contraceptive use [AOR = 6.38, 95% CI (3.96, 10.27)], condom use [AOR = 6.38, 95% CI (3.96, 10.27)], peer pressure [AOR = 14.52, 95% CI (4.702, 44.891)], tobacco consumption[AOR = 3.191 95% CI (1.83, 5.54)] and alcohol use [1.64, 95% CI (1.39, 2.06)] were the commonest factors associated with risky sexual behavior. Conclusion: The study revealed that being too young in terms of age, not believing actively in faith/religion practice, lack of contraceptive method, not using condom, peer pressure, tobacco use and drinking alcohol were factors in the study that can lead youths to engage in risky sexual behaviors.
Cite this paper
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