Perception of Malaria Transmission and Preventive Strategies among Adolescents in Rivers State, South-South Nigeria

Introduction: Malaria is a cause of mortality in African. Though preventable it has remained a public health issue in sub-Saharan Africa where more than 90% of all malaria cases occur. The study is intended todetermine the perception of malaria transmission and prevention among adolescent in Rivers State.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among adolescents in secondary schools in Port Harcourt. A Self-administered questionnaire wasemployed for data collection. Descriptive analysis was carried out. Comparing two mean wasby t-test while test for significance was by chi square. In all a p value of ≤ 0.05 was regarded as significant.Results: Resultsof the 969 subjects 445 (45.9%) were males while 524(54.1%) were females. The mean age was 14.3 ± 1.2 years. All the respondent (100%) had heard of malaria, 957 (98.8%) were aware that mosquito was the vector, 923(95.3%) reported that the mode of transmission was through a bite by mosquito. Misconception regarding transmission of malaria was identified among 46(4.7%) participants. 760 (78.4%) of them possessed Insecticidal Treated Nets(ITN). Factors that enhanced ITN use among the respondents includes being a Junior student (p<0.001, OR=12.48, CI= 8.07-19.31), higher socioeconomic class (p<0.001,OR= 2.39,CI=1.71-3.33) while age and family size were not significantly associated.Conclusion: Adolescents in Rivers State have considerable information on malaria transmission and prevention however utilization of ITN is poor. Health education is needed to enhance the use of ITN among adolescents in Rivers State.

Adolescent sex education: prevalence, sources and perspective among senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State

Background: Adequate sex education is an essential tool for all adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of adolescents who have had access to sexuality education, their source and their perspective to sexuality education in Obio/Akpor local government area (LGA) of Rivers State. Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive school based study. A multistage sampling method was used to select four secondary schools (two public and two private) in Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers State. The study participants were recruited by simple balloting from the senior secondary classes. The study instrument was a pretested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed with Epi Info version 7.2.2.16 statistical programme. In all cases, a value of P < 0.05 was statistically significant. Results: One thousand one hundred and ten participants were recruited for the study, ages ranged from 13 to 19 years with a mean age of 15.5 ± 1.6 years. Majority (91.9%) of the participants have been taught sex education. More males and students from public schools had not been taught sex education. Sources of sex education were school (58.3%) and parents (13.5%). Most (74.0%) of the students preferred a school-based sex education taught by their teachers and 96.5% supports sex education to be incorporated into the school curriculum. Furthermore, majority of the students acknowledged that sex education will help them prevent sexually transmitted infection and HIV/AIDS, pregnancy and help them relate better with the opposite sex.Conclusion: It is concluded that every child irrespective of the gender, school type be given access to adequate sex education. Parents and teachers are encouraged to ensure that the appropriate age-specific information is given to the children to prevent them from accessing wrong information from unreliable sources. There is need to incorporate sex education into the secondary school curriculum

Sexual Behaviours of Secondary School Students in Port Harcourt.

Background: Sexual behaviours of adolescents are currently receiving global attention because a high proportion of new HIV and other sexually transmitted infections’ diagnosis are among young people. This study aimed to assess the sexual behaviours of secondary school students in Port Harcourt. Methods: This is a school-based cross sectional descriptive study, carried out in six public secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis in Rivers State, Nigeria in February 2014. A structured pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1047 senior secondary 1 to 3 students selected through multistage sampling technique. Information sought included sociodemographics, if they have had sexual intercourse, age at first sex, involvement in sexual intercourse in the last 3 months before the survey, condom use and number of sex partners. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 statistical software. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were done to describe socio-demographics and sexual behaviours of study participants and to identify independently associated factors. Results: One thousand and forty seven students participated in the study; mean age 16.19±1.64 SD. Five hundred and thirty seven (51.3%) females and 510 (48.7%) males, male: female ratio was 0.9: 1. Four hundred and forty nine (42.9%) students reported having had sex at least once in their life time. Mean age at first sexual intercourse was 13.37±3.66SD. More females reported having sex compared to the males (χ2=7.357, P=.007). The commonest reason for having sex was because their friends had also had sex. Two hundred and seventy eight (61.9%) students reportedly had sex in the past 3 months before the survey, out of which 14.0% had sex with 4 or more sexual partners and 18% had sex more than once a week. Nineteen point eight percent of the currently sexually active students used condom during their last sexual intercourse. One hundred and forty six (27.2%) females had been pregnant at least once, out of which 75.3% had induced abortion. Students who watched pornographic movies (OR=2.189, CI=1.624-2.951) and those who dated the opposite sex (OR=2.839, CI=2.092-3.851) were 2 times more likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse than those who didn’t. Students who were sexually harassed were 5 times more likely to be sexually experienced than those who were not sexually harassed (OR=5.927, CI=4.408-7.971). Conclusion: There was a high rate of risky sexual behaviours amongst the secondary school students in Port Harcourt. Intervention program aimed at sexuality education and behavioural change should be inculcated into secondary school education curriculum in Port Harcourt.