TY  - BOOK
AU  -  Bigirwamungu, Artenius
AU  - Kapesa, Anthony 
TI  - Self-Efficacy of Condom Use among Youths in Muleba District, Kagera, Tanzania
PY  - 2019///
CY  - Mwanza, Tanzania:  
PB  - Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS – Bugando],  Phone: +255 28 298 3384,   Fax: +255 28 298 3386,    Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz, Website: www.bugando.ac.tz  : 
KW  -  
N2  - Abstract:

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are responsible for a variety of health problems especially among youths who engage in risk sexual behaviors. Prevention against these STIs including HIV using appropriate intervention has time to time been associated with decrease in transmission of these STIs among this vulnerable age group. Proper condom use has strongly been associated with decrease in HIV and other STIs transmission in addition to prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Despite these benefits of using condoms; users especially youth face challenges and have different perception as far as proper condom use is concerned.

Objective: To determine the perceived self-efficacy of condom use among youths of Muleba district, Kagera, Tanzania. 

Methods: The descriptive Cross-sectional study was employed in Muleba District, where 384 participants were involved in the study. Self-administered structured questionnaires were used containing most of close ended questions. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20, chi-square test was used for continuous variables. The p-value of 0.05 with 95% confidence interval was employed to measure the power of the study.

Results: The study involved 384 respondents aged between 15 and 24 years among which, 331 (86.2%) were sexually active. 151 (39.4%) of the respondents reported to have used condom and only 53 (13.8%) had used condom in the past three months while 75 (19.5%) reported to have used condom in their last sexual act. 60 (15.6%) reported to have multiple sexual partners. Different attitudes negatively affected condom uses whereby 59.6% reported that condom use encourage promiscuity among youths, 51.1% reporting that condom use encourages early sex. Most of the participants had insufficient condom use skills 52.1% and low perceived condom use self-efficacy 52.6%. High perceived condom use self-efficacy was associated with high condom use skills (p=0.000), multiple sexual partners (p=0.000), use of condom in the last sexual act (p=0.000) sexual debut category (p=0.001), partners condom use request (p=0.000), school gender (p=0.003) and level of education (p=0.000).

Conclusion: Youths in Muleba practices risky sexual behaviors. With low percentage of reported condom use among both females and males. This leading to insufficient condom use skills and subsequent low perceived condom use self-efficacy contributed also by different attitudes on condom use. Perceived condom uses self-efficacy being predicted by condom use history, use of condom in the last sexual act and sexual partner’s condom use request. These findings imply that safe sex promotion interventions like sex and reproductive health education, easing access to friendly environment for condom availability, providing accurate information about benefits of condoms, addressing gender norms, and building assertive communication skills in sexual negotiation and condom use among youths specifically in their early teenagers might be very important measures in increasing the perceived condom use self-efficacy and hence improving STIs prevention among this age group.

ER  -