(146) Sex Education and Pattern of Sexual Behavior among Adolescents in a Sub-Urban High School

Abstract Introduction Adolescence being the transition from childhood to adulthood may be associated with risky sexual behavior with consequences that may last a lifetime. Sex education for teenagers to encourage safe sexual practices is necessary to build a society of adults with healthy sexual lifestyle. The details of the source of information, level of knowledge and actual sexual practices among these adolescents will inform the approach to supplying adequate information. Objective The objective of the study is to demonstrate the level of knowledge of adolescents about safe sexual practices, contraceptives and their pattern of behavior. Methods Data regarding knowledge and sexual behavior was obtained from adolescents in a Sub-Urban high school with the aid of pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The data was imputed and analyzed with the IBM SPSS software. Results A total of 107 adolescents aged 13 to 19years (mean - 16.078years) with average weight of 47.931Kg; 53(49.5%) were males and 54(50.5%) were females. About half (51.4%) practice Christianity and 48.6% practice Islamic religion and majority (96.3%) were in their penultimate class in high school. Majority of respondents (87.7%) reported having formal sex education, the commonest source of sex education was school in 76.9%, other sources of information were parents (11.0%), friends and peers (8.7%), mass media (4.4%) and siblings (2.2%). The quality of knowledge of these adolescents may be poor, as many as 25% of respondents think that casual sex does not predispose to infections and only 21.8% had any knowledge of modern contraceptives. Nearly one-quarter (23.36%) of respondents have commenced sexual activities with the mean age at coitarche being 12.38±2.38years; majority in this category (92%) being males. The commonest form of sexual practice is peno-vagina intercourse which is seen in 21.7% of respondents, 13.3% practice masturbation, 5.8% of respondents have had homosexual activities, 6.7% practice oral sex and 1.9% practice peno-anal sex. Among the sexually active respondents, 72% have had multiple sexual partners, 32% practice casual sex. Majority (92%) have used male condoms before but only 32% of sexually active respondents regularly use condoms. Majority (98%) of sexually naïve were contented with their status and 13% of sexually active respondents wished they had delayed sexual activities. Conclusions Although, intervention at adolescence with sex and reproductive health services offers the opportunity to form societies with healthy sexual lifestyle, the level of knowledge of sex education among adolescents in Sub-Urban communities remain poor yet a significant proportion of these Adolescents have commenced sexual activities with some practicing risky sexual behavior. Disclosure No.