Sexual activity of adolescent school girls in an urban secondary school in Cameroon

The objective of this study was to describe the extent of sexual activity in adolescent school girls. This was a cross-sectional study with prolective collection of data carried out at Lycee General Leclerc, Yaounde [Cameroon], from October 1 to November 30, 2011. Heterosexual coitus was considered as sexual activity. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was proposed to all consenting girl students aged 10 to 19 years. The data were analyzed using Epi Info 3.2.1 and Microsoft Excel 2007 software. Of the 2660 students who responded to the questionnaire, 21.3% [566] admitted being sexually active. Out of these, 64.3% [364] were aged between 10 and 16 years at their first heterosexual contact. The mean age at the first sexual intercourse was 15.3 years. Although 56.4% [319] of the sexually active respondents had only one sexual partner, 43.6% [247] of them had at least two partners. Sexual activity was occasional in 71.4% of those being sexually active. Meanwhile, 52.1% [295] of the sexually active adolescent girls used condoms during sexual intercourse, 41.5% [235] did so occasionally, and 6.4% [36] had regular unprotected sex. More than one-fifth of adolescent girls were sexually active in this study. Sexual intercourse started mostly at the age of 16 or less, and it was mostly occasional. Half of the cases had multiple sexual partners, and half were not using condoms during sexual intercourse. We, thus, recommend the implementation of interventions aimed at delaying the age of the first sexual intercourse and accessibility of condoms to students in this setting

Risk factors for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy: a report from the maroua regional hospital, Cameroon

A recent study at the Maroua Provincial Hospital revealed that hypertension in pregnancy was the first cause of maternal death, representing 17.5% of the 63 maternal deaths recorded between 2003 and 2005. Knowing little about the causes, this study was to identify the possible risk factors for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. This case-control study was-done at the Maroua Regional Hospital, Cameroon between June 2005 and May 2007. All the 152 deliveries complicated with hypertension were compared and analyzed with 414 pregnancies that were not complicated with the disease. Data analysis was performed using EPI Info 3.5.1. The differences were considered to be significant if the p-values were less than 0.05. Using univariate analysis, several factors linked to hypertensive disorder in pregnancy were identified. They included early adolescence, nulliparity, illiteracy, lack of occupation and family history of hypertension. At multivariate analysis, the risk of having hypertension during pregnancy remained greater for illiterate women [OR: 1.6; 95%CI: 1.0-2.3], housewives [OR: 2.8; 95%CI: 1.1-6.9], nulliparae [OR: 2.8; 95%CI: 1.5-3.6], women with family histories of hypertension [OR: 3.6; 95%CI: 1.6-8.5] and women with histories of hypertension during pregnancy [OR: 7.0; 95%CI: 3.0-16.4]. Risk factors for hypertensive diseases in pregnancy in Maroua, Cameroon seem to include early teenage status, illiteracy, housewife status, nulliparity and family or personal histories of hypertension. The knowledge about the aforesaid factors seems to lay the tracks for its prevention in Cameroon