Abstract:
Background: Risky Sexual Behavior is defined as any sexual activities that increase the probability of adverse sexual and reproductive health including unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV/ AIDS and psychosocial problems. Most studies conducted had focused primarily on high school, college and university students. In this regard, this study was aimed to assess risky sexual behaviors and associated factors among Bajaj drivers.
Objective: To assess risky sexual behavior and associated factors among Bajaj drivers in Ambo Town, West Shewa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia.
Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among a sample of 281
Bajaj drivers from March 15, 2022 to April 10, 2022. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study subjects. A well validated anonymous self-administered structured questionnaire of risky sexual behavior of Bajaj drivers was used to collect data. The data were coded, checked for completeness and entered into Epidata version 4.1 then exported to SPSS version 24 for cleaning and analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to explore participants’ characteristics. The association between the predictors and outcome variables was assessed using bivariate logistic regression model. Adjusted odds ratios along with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals were computed to assess the strength of associations. P-values of <0.05 were used to declare level of statistical significance.
Results: The overall prevalence of risky sexual behavior in this study was One hundred five or 37.6 %( 95% CI: 31.5%, 43. 4%).Living Arrangement (AOR = 2.04; 95% CI: 1.06, 3.90), Drinking alcohol (AOR = 2.43; 95%CI: 1.37, 4.32) and poor knowledge on risk sexual behavior (AOR=2.44; 95%:1.35, 4.42) were statistically associated with risky sexual practice.
Conclusion: This study has shown that more than one in three of study participants engaged in risky sexual behavior and living without their family, ever drink alcohol and poor knowledge on RSB were factors significantly associated with risky sexual behavior among participants in the study area. Thus, parents, the government and non-government organizations working on these sub populations should work further to reduce risky sexual behavior
