Socio-economics determinants of knowledge on sexually transmitted infections among youth in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam

Abstract

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major public health problem globally. Youth are one of the most vulnerable groups to reproductive health problems globally. In Tanzania, more than 50% of youth are unable to mention gonorrhea and syphilis as diseases transmitted through sexual activities. Knowledge of a disease's causation has effects on its transmission. Socio-cultural and economic factors put young people into risk of STI infection and HIV transmission. This study was conducted to determine socio- economic factors influencing youth knowledge on transmission of sexually transmitted infection in Temeke District A cross sectional descriptive study using quantitative research methods among youth aged 15-24 years living in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania was conducted at the household level by using interviewer administered questionnaires. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select 2 rural and 2 urban wards where 4 streets from each ward were selected and at least 17 households were randomly selected from each street making a total of 261 participants. More than half of participants had low STI knowledge score (56.7%) while medium score were (13.4%) and high knowledge score were (29.9%). High STI knowledge level were low among respondents with primary education level compared to secondary school with adjusted (OR 0.26, 95% Cl; 0.14 - 0.49). Male respondents were two times more likely to have high STI knowledge score compared to female respondents (OR 1.96, 95% Cl; 1.13- 3.40). Also younger youth aged between 15 - 19 years were less likely to have high STI knowledge after adjusted for education, residence, and sex (OR 0.53, 95% Cl; 0.30 - 0.93) compared to older youth aged 20 - 24 years. High STI knowledge had no significant difference between youth living in rural and urban and across SES groups. This study clearly indicates that STI knowledge among youth is low whether living in urban or rural areas. Socio economic status has been shown to be a weak determinant of STI knowledge among youth; other determinants such as education, age and sex have been strong predictors of STI knowledge among youth. There should be strong emphasis towards attainment of higher education beyond primary education if we wish to achieve high reproductive health outcomes starting from STI knowledge.