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
. 2020 Dec 14:12:923-930.
doi: 10.2147/HIV.S281955. eCollection 2020.

Prevalence of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Utilization and Its Associated Factors Among Merawi Preparatory School Students in Merawi Town, West Gojjam, Ethiopia

Daba Abdissa  1 , Mulat Tazebew  2 , Asfaw Gerbi  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Utilization and Its Associated Factors Among Merawi Preparatory School Students in Merawi Town, West Gojjam, Ethiopia

Daba Abdissa et al. HIV AIDS (Auckl). .

Abstract

Purpose: HIV/AIDS is a major public health problem in many parts of the world. Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is one of the essential strategies for its prevention and an entry point to AIDS care. Nevertheless, utilization of VCT is low in Ethiopia. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of VCT utilization and associated factors among Merawi preparatory school students, West Gojjam, Ethiopia.

Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2 to 20, 2019 using a stratified random sampling method to enroll 365 participants. Data were collected using pretested structured self-administered questionnaires, entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. A logistic regression was used to determine an association between a number of independent variables and dependent variables. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated at 95% CI and considered significant with a p value of ≤ 0.05.

Results: The mean age of participants was 20.2 ± 2.6 years and more than half (52.6%) of the respondents were male. From the study participants, 77.5% had good knowledge of VCT, 75% had a positive attitude towards VCT for HIV and 31.5% had undergone VCT for HIV. According to the multivariable logistic regression, having a boyfriend or girlfriend (AOR = 10.49; 95% CI: 5.48, 20.09), discussing with parents about HIV (AOR = 3.63; 95% CI: 1.97, 6.68), good knowledge (AOR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.80, 8.46) and positive attitude (AOR: 3.14; 95% CI:1.45, 6.82) were significantly associated with VCT utilization.

Conclusion: The majority of the respondents had good knowledge and a positive attitude towards VCT; however, its utilization was low. Having a boyfriend or girlfriend, discussion with parents about HIV, good knowledge and positive attitude towards VCT were significantly associated with VCT utilization. Therefore, a health education program aimed at bringing behavioral change should be planned and implemented.

Keywords: factors; practice; prevalence; voluntary counseling and testing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. HIV/AIDS voluntary counselling and testing review_of_policies_programmes_and_guidelines.pdf [Internet]; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/hiv/topics/vct/toolkit/components/policy/review_of_p.... Accessed November24, 2020.
    1. Uzochukwu B, Uguru N, Ezeoke U, Onwujekwe O, Sibeudu T. Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV/AIDS: a study of the knowledge, awareness and willingness to pay for VCT among students in tertiary institutions in Enugu State Nigeria. Health Policy (New York). 2011;99(3):277–284. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.11.007 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tewabe T, Destaw B, Admassu M, Abera B. Assessment of factors associated with voluntary counseling and testing uptake among students in Bahir Dar University: a case control study. Ethiop J Health Dev. 2012;26(1):16–21.
    1. Tsegay G, Edris M, Meseret S. Assessment of voluntary counseling and testing service utilization and associated factors among Debre Markos University Students, North West Ethiopia: a cross-sectional survey in 2011. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1):243. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-243 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kharsany AB, Karim QA. HIV infection and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa: current status, challenges and opportunities. Open AIDS J. 2016;10:34. doi: 10.2174/1874613601610010034 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources