Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Health Sciences, Samsenthia Road, P,O,Box 7444, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
BMC Public Health. 2013 Dec 5;13:1126. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1126.
Young people in Laos are more vulnerable to STIs/HIV due to their sexual risk behaviours, low perceptions of risk and their socio-cultural environments. Perceived risk of contracting STIs/HIV is crucial for the assessment of their risk regarding their actual sexual risk behaviors. Thus, the objective of this paper is to explore perceptions of risk related to STIs/HIV and identify factors associated with this perceived risk among adolescents.
This was a cross sectional study of sexually experienced adolescents aged 14 to 19 years old in the Luangnamtha province. The multistage sampling techniques were used for selecting 1008 adolescents aged 14-19 years old. Of these, 483 respondents reported having had sexual experience was selected for analysis. Univariate and Logistic regression were performed.
Six per cent of respondents reported ever having had anal sex. Slightly less than two thirds initiated their first sexual intercourse before age 15. Two thirds of the sexually experienced males reported two or more sexual partners during their lifetime with the mean 3.1+3.65 while only twelve per cent of girls reported this cumulative number of partners. Slightly more than half (57.6%) regarded themselves to have no risk at all with 17.2 per cent considered themselves to have low risk. Respondents had poor knowledge on STIs/HIV. Factors associated with risk perception of getting STIs were: being male, high level of knowledge about STIs and having had symptoms of STIs in last six months. Perceived risk of getting HIV was significantly associated with being male, having more knowledge about STIs and HIV.
Adolescents in this study engaged in sexual risk behaviours, but they have low perception of risk getting STI/HIV. Socio-demographic factors, knowledge of STIs/HIV, and the level of exposure to STIs were the main determinants of the risk perception of STIs/HIV. Our finding supports the need to target adolescents in Luangnamtha province for HIV prevention intervention by addressing inaccurate perception of risk and increasing their knowledge on STIs/HIV.
老挝的年轻人由于性行为风险高、对风险的认知度低以及社会文化环境等因素，更容易感染性传播感染/艾滋病（STIs/HIV）。对感染 STIs/HIV 的风险感知对于评估他们与实际性行为风险相关的风险至关重要。因此，本文的目的是探讨与 STIs/HIV 相关的风险感知，并确定与青少年这一感知风险相关的因素。
这是一项在老挝琅南塔省对有性经验的 14 至 19 岁青少年进行的横断面研究。采用多阶段抽样技术，选择了 1008 名 14-19 岁的青少年。其中，选择了 483 名报告有过性行为经验的受访者进行分析。进行了单变量和逻辑回归分析。
6%的受访者报告曾有过肛交行为。略低于三分之二的人在 15 岁之前就开始了第一次性行为。三分之二的有性经验的男性报告在一生中拥有两个或更多性伴侣，平均为 3.1+3.65，而只有 12%的女性报告了这一累计伴侣数。略多于一半（57.6%）的人认为自己根本没有风险，17.2%的人认为自己风险较低。受访者对 STIs/HIV 的知识了解甚少。与 STIs 风险感知相关的因素包括：男性、对 STIs 有较高的了解程度和在过去六个月中出现 STIs 症状。对感染 HIV 的风险感知与男性、对 STIs 和 HIV 的了解程度较高显著相关。
本研究中的青少年有性行为风险行为，但对感染 STI/HIV 的风险感知较低。社会人口统计学因素、对 STIs/HIV 的了解程度以及对 STIs 的暴露程度是 STIs/HIV 风险感知的主要决定因素。我们的研究结果支持在琅南塔省针对青少年开展 HIV 预防干预的必要性，包括解决风险感知不准确和增加对 STIs/HIV 的了解。
