Determinants of Sexual Debut among High School Girl Students in Arsi Zone, Huruta Town, Ethiopia: School based Cross Sectional Study

Background: premature sexual debut increases the risk of sexually transmitted infection including HIV/AIDS, having many sexual partners, unintended pregnancy, abortion and its complications. In addition, the timing of primary sex is affected by a variety of factors and this makes the consequences of female sexuality much more serious. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore factors that affect high school female students. Methods: School based cross-sectional study was conducted from December, 15-19/2015. A total of 845 high school female students were selected by multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were gathered using structured, self-administered questionnaire. Data were entered, cleaned and analyzed using Epi-Info version 3.5.1. Descriptive statistics, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to explore factors associated with early sexual debut. Result: Among high school girl students 53.7% reported early sexual debut. The mean age at primary sexual initiation was 16.27 (SD ±2.1) years. The major predictors were age group 20-24 [AOR=3.03, 95% CI; (2.09, 4.39)], marital status [AOR=0.05, 95% CI; (0.02, 0.12)], peer pressure [AOR=3.85, 95% CI; (2.66, 5.58)], alcohol use (AOR=2.01, 95% CI; (1.41, 2.87)] and watching pornographic videos [AOR=3.01, 95% CI; (2.06, 4.40)]. Conclusion: Significant proportion of high school students have started early sexual debut. The finding suggests that the need to communicating and supporting school students to help them make informed and safer decision on their sexual behavior. Therefore, Huruta town administration education and health bureau should design a persistent and effective health education, establishing and strengthening center/club should be intensified to reduce early sexual debut in high school girl students. Keywords: Early, Sexual debut, female students