Sexual Orientation Among Unmarried Final Year University Students in Osun State: Distribution, Determinants and Level of Satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Sexual Orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction, with the attractions broadly incorporated under heterosexuality and non-heterosexuality. Societal and other factors seem to affect individuals' perception of their self-identified orientation. Thus, this study sets out to document the distribution of sexual orientation, level of self-reported satisfaction, and factors associated with sexual orientation among unmarried university students. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 550 respondents sampled using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data collected via a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed via IBM SPSS version 20.0. RESULTS: Most respondents (93.6%) were heterosexuals, 4.7% bisexuals, 1.3% lesbian women and 0.40% gay men. More heterosexuals (80.4%) were fully satisfied with their self-identified sexual orientation compared to 57.2% of non-heterosexuals. Respondents who had religious upbringing and those whose parents were currently married were less likely to have sexual orientation outside of heterosexuality. CONCLUSION: The most prevalent sexual orientation was heterosexuality, with more heterosexuals also expressing satisfaction than others. With the level of dissatisfaction expressed by those who are not heterosexuals as well as the factors associated with heterosexuality, it is plausible to conclude that societal values and/or prejudices constitute major factors in individuals self-identifying with some particular sexual orientation and the satisfaction derived therein.

Sexual activity and contraceptive use among young female students of tertiary educational institutions in Ilorin, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: A survey was conducted to evaluate the pattern of sexual behavior and contraceptive use among female students aged 15 to 24 years attending tertiary institutions in Ilorin, Nigeria. STUDY DESIGN: A valid and reliable semistructured questionnaire was self-administered to a sampled population of 600 students aged 15 to 24 years. RESULTS: Of the 600 students, 562 (93.7%) completed the questionnaire. Most (98.6%) of the respondents were unmarried, 77.6% have had sexual intercourse, 67.8% have had an unwanted pregnancy while 63.5% have had induced abortion. All the respondents were aware of contraceptives, but only 25.4% have ever used any contraceptive method. The most common sources of information about contraception among the respondents were friends/relatives (73.7%), while the fear of side effects of modern contraceptives was the most common reason (77.5%) for nonuse. CONCLUSION: The fear of side effects is the main reason for low contraceptive prevalence among young female students of tertiary institutions in Ilorin. Reproductive health services should focus more on delivery of adequate and accurate information about contraceptives to improve use among young women.