Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Sep;11(3):383-9.

Self-reported sexual behaviour among adolescent girls in Uganda: reliability of data debated

E B Råssjö  1 , F Mirembe, E Darj
Affiliations

Self-reported sexual behaviour among adolescent girls in Uganda: reliability of data debated

E B Råssjö et al. Afr Health Sci. 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To compare self-reported information about sexual behaviour in a research interview to information retrieved during a clinical consultation.

Method: 595 sexually experienced women below 20 years, were interviewed by a social worker about genital symptoms and sexual behaviour. A midwife interviewed, examined, and took vaginal samples for gonorrhoea and chlamydia. Four questions were embedded in both the social workers interviews and among midwife's questions. The women were asked if they perceived their latest /current partner to be faithful, if he had complained about any genital symptoms, if a condom was used at latest sexual intercourse and if the woman knew her HIV status.

Results: The prevalence of gonorrhoea and/or chlamydia was 7.1% but for women who reported that their partner had complained about genital symptoms it was significantly higher. Agreement between answers given in the research interview and to the midwife was good for HIV status but only fair or moderate for perceived faithfulness, partner's symptoms and recent condom use.

Conclusion: Information about risk factors revealed in individual interviews and by the midwives taking a history was incongruent. Any approach for management of STIs, which is built on self-reported risk factors, needs careful assessment of reliability.

Keywords: Adolescents; Risk factors; STI; Uganda; reliability.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hinson R, Strunin L. Validity, reliability, and generalizability in studies of AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral risks based on subject self-report. Am J Prev Med. 1993;9:62–64. - PubMed
    1. FortenBerry JD. Beyond validity and reliability: meaning-in-context of adolescents' self-reports of sexual behavior. J Adolesc Health. 2009;44:199–200. - PubMed
    1. Rassjo EB, Kambugu F, Tumwesigye MN, Tenywa T, Darj E. Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents in Kampala, Uganda, and theoretical models for improving syndromic management. J Adolesc Health. 2006;38:213–221. - PubMed
    1. WHO, author. Management of patients with sexually transmitted diseases. Geneva: 1991. (vol Report No:810)
    1. Landis JR, Koch GG. The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics. 1977;33:159–174. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources