Perception of Risk of HIV among Adolescents’ Living in an Urban Slum in Ghana

Abstract

Due to a number of biological, social, developmental, and behavioural factors young people are disproportionately affected by STIs including HIV and AIDS. Using the Health Belief Model, the study investigated factors influencing perception of risk of HIV among adolescents living in an urban slum in Ghana. Data were obtained from 902 adolescents, aged 10-19 years living in Kwesimintsim Zongo, an urban slum in the Western region of Ghana. A multi-staged sampling technique was used to select the respondents and both bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to examine the factors influencing perception of ri sk of HIV among adolescents. Adolescents' perception of risk of HIV was generally low and was predicted by age, ethnicity, membership of social groups and exposure to the print media. The low risk perception might cause adolescents to engage in behaviours, which are likely to endanger their health in general, and reproductive health in particular. Considering the effects of HIV and AIDS on young people, it is imperative to put in place campaigns that would help to increase their perceived risks of HIV. Factors that affect adolescents' perception of risks should be taken into consideration in designing HIV and AIDS campaigns to ensure positive behavioural change. Keywords: HIV; risk perception; adolescents; urban slum; Ghana. RésuméEn raison d'un certain nombre de facteurs biologiques, sociaux, de croissances et des facteurs du comportement, des jeunes sont touchés de manière disproportionnée par les IST y compris le VIH / SIDA. A l'aide du modèle de croyance de la santé, l'étude a examiné les facteurs qui influent sur la perception du risque du VIH chez les adolescents domiciliés dans un bidonville urbain au Ghana. Les données ont été recueillies à partir de 902 adolescents, âgés de 10-19 ans domiciliés à Kwesimintsim Zongo, un bidonville urbain dans la région ouest du Ghana. Une technique en plusieurs étapes d'échantillonnage a été utilisée pour sélectionner les interviewés et les deux analyses bivariées et multivariées ont été menées pour examiner les facteurs qui influent sur la perception du risque du VIH chez les adolescents. La perception des adolescents du risque du VIH était généralement faible et a été prédit par l'âge, l'origine ethnique, l'appartenance à des groupes sociaux et l'exposition à la presse écrite. La faible perception du risque pourrait influencer des adolescents à se livrer à des comportements qui sont susceptibles de mettre en danger leur santé en général, et la santé de la reproduction en particulier. Compte tenu des effets du VIH et du S IDA sur les jeunes, il est impératif de mettre en place des campagnes qui permettraient d'accroître leurs risques perçus à l'égar d du VIH. Les facteurs qui affectent la perception des risques chez les adolescents doivent être pris en considération dans la conception de campagnes du VIH et du SIDA pour assurer un changement de comportement positif. (Afr J Reprod Health 2016; 20[1]: 62-70).

Sexual practices and its predictors among in-school adolescents in an urban city in North Central Nigeria

“…Majority of the respondents who posited to have had at least one sexual intercourse experience (84.7%) were between the ages of 15 -19 revealing that the older adolescents were more sexually active than the younger ones between the ages of 10 -14. This is in line with other studies carried out in sub Saharan Africa (29,30). Also, among the respondents who were reportedly sexually active, majority of them (69.4%) were male respondents and more than half of them (54.2%) practiced Islam.…”

Knowledge Gaps of STIs in Africa; Systematic review

“…Fifty one included studies assessed the awareness of 1,235,811 Africans in regard to HIV in total of 35 countries, eleven studies were conducted in Nigeria [14,16,83,17,18,23,38,48,60,63,81] , nine in South Africa [24,27,29,34,37,42,46,82,84] , five in each of Ghana [19,31,65,66,68] and Ethiopia [21,73,77,78,80] , four in Uganda [13,55,72,75] , three in Mozambique [22,26,30] , two in each of Namibia [45,76] and Cameroon [59,67] , one in each of Congo [25] , Sudan [33] , Senegal [39] , Morocco [47] , Gambia [50] , Tanzania [53] , Madagascar [71] and Egypt [74] while a study provided awareness prevalence in 33 countries [8] . The conduction of the studies ranged from 2010 to 2017.…”

“…The study participants’ age were equal or less than 25 years in thirteen HIV-related included studies, representing a total population of 5,908 participants; five studies were conducted in Nigeria [14,16–18,63] , three in Ghana [19,31,66] , two in Mozambique [26,30] , and one in each of Cameroon [59] , Madagascar [71] and Uganda [72] . Majority of studies were toward students and adolescents (11/13) while two studies were conducted among pregnant women.…”

Knowledge gaps of STIs in Africa; Systematic review

“…Fifty oneincluded studies assessed the awareness of 1,342,002 Africans in regard to HIV in total of 35 countries, eleven studies were conducted in Nigeria [14,[16][17][18]23,38,48,60,63,81,83], nine in South Africa [24,27,29,34,37,42,46,82,84], five in each of Ghana [19,31,65,66,68] and Ethiopia [21,73,77,78,80], four in Uganda [13,55,72,75], three in Mozambique [22,26,30], two in each of Namibia [45,76]and Cameroon [59,67], one in each of Congo [25], Sudan [33], Senegal [39], Morocco [47], Gambia [50], Tanzania [53], Madagascar [71] and Egypt…”

“…Adolescents and young people. The study participants' age were greater than 14and less than 25 years in thirteen HIV-related included studies, representing a total population of 5,908 participants; five studies were conducted in Nigeria [14,[16][17][18]63], three in Ghana [19,31,66], two in Mozambique [26,30], and one in each of Cameroon [59], Madagascar [71]and Uganda [72]. Majority of studies were toward students and adolescents (11/13) while two studies were conducted among pregnant women.…”