TITLE:
Investigation of Relationship between Sociodemographic Factors and HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) among Young People in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Adaeze Oguegbu
KEYWORDS:
Gender, Place of Residence, Educational Level, Geopolitical Zone and Socio-Economic Status, Sociodemographic Factors, HIV Counseling
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Infectious Diseases,
Vol.6 No.1,
March
22,
2016
ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this
study was to examine the association between sociodemographic factors (gender,
place of residence, level of education, geopolitical zone, and socioeconomic
status) and HCT uptake among young people in Nigeria. The study is a
quantitative research guided by one research question and one hypothesis. The
target population comprised young people in Nigeria ages 15 to 24 years because
the focus of this study was to identify the factors affecting HCT uptake among
young people in this age cohort. The representative sample was obtained from
the updated master sample frame of rural and urban zones developed by the
National Population Commission in Nigeria. This master sample frame was a
national survey that comprises all 36 states in Nigeria. Probability sampling
technique was used to obtain a sample of 10,091 respondents (ages 15 to 24
years) for the study. The multistage cluster sampling was used to select
suitable young people with known probability. Data were collected throughout
Nigeria between September and December 2012 from 32,543 households (rural =
22,192; urban = 10,351) using structured and semi-structured questionnaires.
The individual questionnaires asked about household characteristics, background
characteristics of the respondents. Data were analyzed by inputting them into
SPSS v21.0 for analysis and then coded them for each participant. The data were
summed using descriptive statistics. Frequencies and percentages; measures of
central tendencies were used to answer the research question while
nonparametric test such as chi-square was used to analyze non-normally
distributed data at 0.5 level of significance. Results of data analysis
indicated that the sociodemographic variables of gender, place of residence,
level of education, geopolitical zone, and SES were significantly associated
with HCT uptake. Among others, it was recommended that examining the efficacy
of HCT treatments in Nigeria, along with conducting a demographic analysis of
the at-risk population, could be beneficial in informing the authorities who
are responsible for allocating finite medical resources.