Relationship between Unhealthy Sexual Behaviour and Urinary Infections among Adolescents Presenting in a Tertiary Hospital in South West Nigeria

Abstract

Adolescent is an important segment of the world population accounting for about one fifth. It is a transition state between childhood and adulthood and characterized with the development of behaviours with lifelong consequences. Such behaviours include unhealthy sexual practices with its associated risks like unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This was a cross sectional descriptive study of 321 adolescents who presented at the general outpatient clinic of a tertiary health institution. The diagnosis of urinary infection was by the use of rapid dipstick test to detect the presence of nitrites, while the presence of pus cells, white blood cells greater than 5 per high power fluid, epithelial cells and trichomonal vaginalis were identified microscopically. Their HIV status was also determined. The fifty three (16.25) of the respondents who had coital experience were screened for evidence of urinary infection. The prevalence of urinary infection was 24.5% among the respondents with 10% and 5% of the sexually exposed females reported homosexual and bisexual experience. Parental higher socioeconomic class was protective against sexual exposure among the adolescents. In view of the high level of poverty with a large part of the population belonging to low socioeconomic class, it is necessary to research into possible interventional study on how to prevent unhealthy sexual behavior among adolescents from low socioeconomic class.

Key words: sexual behavior; Urogenital Infection; Adolescents