Ladoke Akintola University of Technology College of Health Sciences, Community Medicine.
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Postgraduate School, Community Medicine.
Afr Health Sci. 2022 Sep;22(3):47-61. doi: 10.4314/ahs.v22i3.7.
According to the United Nations, about 150 million youth spent most of their time on the street, or better still, homeless. This is becoming a global phenomenon and majority of this vulnerable people live in large cities and urban areas of developing countries. Street youths are among the high risk, insecure and vulnerable groups who are often exposedto various forms of abuses and diseases, including reproductive health issues.
A descriptive cross sectional study carried out among street youths in Ikorodu Local Government, Lagos State using a multi staged sampling technique. Frequency tables were drawn at the univariate level, chi squared was used to test for association between socio-demographic characteristics and sexual risk level. Data was analyzed using SPPSS version 22, p value was set at 0.05.
Almost half 48(48.5%) of the respondents were between the age range 20-24years and two third 61(61.6%) of them were female and 27(27.3%) had up to senior secondary education attainments. Majority 73(73.7%) of them have been on the street for more than 3months and 32 (32.3%) professed that the reason they were on the street was to search for job while 25 (25.3%) because of family disharmony among parents. Eighty six (86.9%) of the respondents were sexually active, 31 (36.0%) of which have more than four sexual partners. Duration of stay on the street and their educational status were determinants of risky sexual behavior and polygamous setting was found to be statistically significant(p value =0.035) with reproductive health challenges.
There is high risk sexual practice among street youths in Ikorodu Local Government. Strategic interventions aimed at minimizing sexual risky behaviors among street youths should focus on reducing the duration of stay on the street as well as increasing access to contraception.
根据联合国的数据，约有 1.5 亿青年大部分时间都在街头流浪，或者更确切地说，无家可归。这正在成为一种全球现象，大多数弱势人群生活在发展中国家的大城市和城市地区。街头青年是高风险、不安全和弱势群体之一，他们经常遭受各种形式的虐待和疾病，包括生殖健康问题。
在拉各斯州伊科罗杜地方政府对街头青年进行了一项描述性的横断面研究，使用多阶段抽样技术。在单变量水平上绘制了频率表，使用卡方检验来检验社会人口特征和性风险水平之间的关联。使用 SPPSS 版本 22 进行数据分析，p 值设为 0.05。
近一半（48.5%）的受访者年龄在 20-24 岁之间，三分之二（61.6%）为女性，27（27.3%）人具有高中及以下学历。大多数（73.7%）人在街头流浪超过 3 个月，32 人（32.3%）表示他们在街头流浪是为了找工作，而 25 人（25.3%）则是因为父母家庭不和。86（86.9%）名受访者有过性行为，其中 31 人（36.0%）有超过四个性伴侣。在街头的逗留时间和他们的教育程度是性行为风险的决定因素，而一夫多妻制被发现与生殖健康挑战有统计学上的显著关系（p 值=0.035）。
伊科罗杜地方政府的街头青年存在高风险的性行为。旨在减少街头青年性行为风险的战略干预措施应侧重于减少在街头的逗留时间，并增加获得避孕措施的机会。
