Magnitude and Predictors of Premarital Sexual Practice among Unmarried Undergraduate Students, at Arba Minch University, Ethiopia, 2015

Background: Pre-marital sexual practice increases the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancy. It may also affect their school performance and completion rate. In spite of this fact, magnitude of pre-marital sexual practice is increasing from time to time. Objective: To determine the magnitude and predictors of premarital sexual practice among unmarried undergraduate Arba Minch University, students, 2015. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study design was used. A total of 575 students were selected by multi-stage sampling technique from six Colleges. Data was collected by using pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Data entry was done by using epi info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses used to identify factors associated with pre-marital sexual practice. Results: A total of 575 students were participated in our study. Four hundred thirty two (75.2%) and 143 (24.8%) were Males and Females respectively. The majority of study participants 382 (66.4%) were in the age group of 21 to 25 years with mean age of 21.25 ± 1.732 years. Three hundred forty one (59.3%) were orthodox by religion; 196 (34.1%) were Amhara by ethnicity. Predictors of pre-marital sexual practice include; Male sex [AOR = 1.329, 95% CI = 1.129, 3.880], Academic year [AOR = 0.540, 95% CI = 0.187, 1.556], Pocket money [AOR = 0.096, 95% CI = 0.010, 0.888], Exposure to Reproductive health information [AOR = 0.995, 95% CI = 0.988, 1.012], Family discussion about sexual issues [AOR = 0.818, 95% CI = 0.852, 1.218], Exposure to pornographic films [AOR = 3.854, 95% CI = 0.945, 11.055] and others. Conclusion: More than one third of participants had premarital sexual practice and it is higher in males than females. Factors affecting pre-marital sexual practice include; Male sex, Pocket money, Exposure to Reproductive health information, Exposure to pornographic films, Alcohol use, Chat chewing and attending religious services. Appropriate interventions should be done by responsible bodies to reduce premarital sexual practice.