Promoting Safer Sexual Dual Protection Behaviors for Female University Students to Reduce Risks of Both STI/HIV and Unintended Pregnancy

Summary

Background: Young women are at the greatest risk for STI/HIV infections and unintended pregnancy resulting from unsafe sexual practices. While there is a growing interest in promoting dual protection as a means of preventing both risks of HIV/STIs and unwanted pregnancy simultaneously, there is limited evidence of effective interventions and strategies for promoting dual protection behaviors in youth based on theoretical models. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model-based safer sexual dual protection (SSDP) intervention to promote safer sexual dual protection behaviors among female university students in Ethiopia.

Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental nonrandomized control group design with a pretest-posttest study to assess changes in the levels of knowledge, motivation, behavioral skills, and practice of safe sexual dual protection behaviors with dual protection use in the intervention group compared to the control group. We recruited 1,020 female university students from two campuses of Mattu University using non-randomized assignment of each campus to either the intervention group or the control group. We collected data from both groups using a self-administered questionnaire at baseline and six months post-intervention. At both times, the collected data were cleaned, edited, and analyzed using SPSS version 23. For the baseline data analysis, we used descriptive statistics to summarize the distribution of participants based on their demographic characteristics and levels of information, motivation, behavioral skills, and behaviors. We also conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS 23 (Teo, 2009; Kline, 2023) to examine correlates and predictors of risky and safer sexual practices and dual protection use and identify important variables to be addressed in targeted intervention for this population. Then, based on the elicitation research findings, we designed IMB-model-based SSDP interventions consisting of 16-hrs sessions to be delivered over a 6 weeks period. To evaluate the intervention effects at posttest, we performed a series of statistical analyses, such as chi-square (χ2) tests of differences between the two groups, along with 95% CI for the differences, and logistic regression analysis of the intervention effects, along with AOR for the effect size measure, after controlling for the effects of other confounding variables.

Conditions

• Sexually Transmitted Infections(STIs)
• HIV/AIDS
• Unintended Pregnancy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

The IMB model-based safer sexual dual protection educational intervention

The IMB model based safe sexual dual protection education was designed to provide factual information about sexual risks of STI/HIV and unwanted pregnancy and the benefits of safer sexual dual protection behaviors including abstinence and dual protection use, enhance motivation to practice primary sexual abstinence for sexually inexperienced youth and dual protection use for sexually experienced young women, and teach specific behavioral skills required for practicing abstinence and/or negotiate safer sex with partners to use condoms/dual protection for simultaneous prevention of both risks of STI/HIV and unwanted pregnancy among youth at risk.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Jimma University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Banti N Feyisa, MPH/RH · Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

• Gurmesa T Debelew, Professor · Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

• Zewude B Koricha, Professor · Jimma University, Behavioral Science and Society, Jimma, Ethiopia

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-04-01

Primary Completion

2023-12-20

Completion

2023-12-20

Countries

• Ethiopia

Study Locations