Chewing khat and risky sexual behavior among residents of Bahir Dar City administration, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

IntroductionKhat is a well-known natural stimulant and is widely used in Ethiopia, particularly in Bahir Dar city. Khat chewing is linked with risky sexual behaviors.ObjectiveThe study was aimed to determine the prevalence of chewing khat and its relation with risky sexual behaviors among residents of Bahir Dar City administration, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February, 2016. The data were collected using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was applied to assess association between dependent and explanatory variables.ResultsThe proportion of lifetime and current chewing khat among the study participants were 25.7 and 19.5%, respectively. Males (AOR 5.0; 95% CI 3.0–8.2) than females, merchants (AOR 4.9; 95% CI 2.6–9.3) than government employees, and those with average monthly income of ≥ 3001 Ethiopian birr (AOR 2.4; 95% CI 1.2–4.8) than ≤ 1000 had an increased current chewing khat prevalence. Having lifetime history of chewing khat was significantly associated with ever had sexual intercourse, having extra sexual partners, watching pornographic film and self-reported sexually transmitted infections.ConclusionChewing khat is associated with increment of having risky sexual behaviors and self-reported sexually transmitted infections. Harm reduction measures are needed to prevent the community from engaging in khat use and risky sexual behaviors.

Factors affecting current khat chewing among male adults 15–59 years in Ethiopia, 2016: a multi-level analysis from Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey

“…Regular khat chewing: causes gingivitis, tooth loss, gastric disorders, cardiac complications, male impotence, sleeplessness, and several mental health problems [4][5][6][7]. A study from Ethiopia suggests that khat chewing resulted in poor lung function and oxygen saturation [8], risky sexual behavior [9,10], and psychosis [11]. In addition, concurrent use of khat with alcohol and cigarette smoking was highly associated with sleep disturbance [12].…”

Assessments of Sexual Practices and Khat Chewing Habits Among Dire Dawa University Students, Eastern Ethiopia

“…The reasons for chewing khat were different from the study conducted among Jimma University by Deribachew and Kanchi (2015) which reveal the major reason for khat chewing among students was to get concentration 50 (50.5 %) followed by relaxation 32 (29.9%). On the other hand, reasons for practicing khat chewing as studied by Abate et al (2018) were included fighting depressed mood and getting concentration were mentioned by 56.9 and 45.6% of study participants, respectively. According to Gemechis, T., Atinafu, K., Bedasa, T., Dagne, T. (2017), te past 12 months and current khat use among the regular undergraduate students of Dire Dawa University (DDU) were 59.9% and 59.6% respectively.…”

“…According to this study, an overall prevalence of current khat chewing rate of 15.8% (21.1% of males and 9.4% of females) across the country. According to Abate et al (2018), out of the total 794 study participants, 204 (25.7%) had a history of chewing khat at least once in their life; of them, 79.9% had the history of chewing in the last 12 months. About 95 percent of those who chewed in the last 12 months practiced khat chewing within last 3 months.…”

“…According to the research done in Dire Dawa Administration, the excessive use of alcohol and other substances (such as alcohol, khat, and tobacco products) was identified as the main factor for the prevalence of HIV infection among youths ( Kassa, Tadesse & Yilma, 2014). Moreover, the study conducted by Abate et al (2018) revealed that khat use was found to be a risk factor for the development of risky sexual behaviors exposing them at risk for acquisition and transmission of STIs.…”

“…Study conducted in Ethiopia have shown that those engaging in sexual contact report multiple partners, inconsistent and incorrect condom use, and having lifetime history of chewing khat, having extra sexual partners, watching pornographic film and drug abuse was significantly associated with sexually transmitted infections and the likelihood of contracting H I V / A I D S (Abate et al,2018;Kebede et al, 2018). Since the majority of Ethiopian universities have only recently been established, most university officials have not yet made HIV and STI prevention a priority and have little experience implementing HIV and STI prevention, despite these being environments that expose students to greater opportunities and circumstances that increase risky behavior.…”