Sexual behaviours, contraceptives knowledge, prevalence and determinants among undergraduate students in a private University in Southwest Nigeria

Background: Safe sex practice is crucial in preventing unwanted/unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially among youths and adolescents. Yet, contraceptive use remains rudimentary among youths in many developing countries like Nigeria. It is thus vitally important to contextually understand factors which could be associated with safe sex practices among undergraduates who are mostly youths and adolescents. Study Objectives: This study assessed sexual practices, contraceptive knowledge, uptake of contraception, as well as predictors of contraceptive use among undergraduate students at Bowen University in Iwo, Osun State. Materials and Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 370 undergraduate students of Bowen University, Iwo, who were recruited using a multistage sampling technique. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Bivariate analysis was performed using the Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression was employed to identify predictors of contraceptive practice at a 5% level of statistical significance. Results: the mean age of respondents was 19.8 ± 1.9 years. Awareness about contraception was 98.9%. Fifty-one percent of the respondents have had sex before the survey. Barely half (54.9%) of the respondents had good contraceptive knowledge while only 19.5% of the sexually active respondents used contraceptives during their last sexual encounters. Practice of contraception was significantly determined by respondents’ gender (AOR= 0.43 CI=0.239 – 0.756), mothers’ level of education (AOR=2.76; CI= 1.046 – 7.268), mothers’ marital status (AOR= 3.38 CI=1.060 – 10.798), contraceptive knowledge (AOR=0.54; CI=0.316 – 0.930) and sexual behavior (AOR=0.06; CI= 0.029 – 0.121). Conclusion: the study highlights poor contraceptive practices despite high prevalence of sexual activities. Hence, targeted health promotional activities should be designed and implemented by reproductive health experts, to promote safe sex practices among undergraduate students in mission-owned Nigerian private universities.