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
. 2022 Jan 26;80(1):40.
doi: 10.1186/s13690-022-00796-4.

Sexual autonomy and self-reported sexually transmitted infections among women in sexual unions

Collins Adu  1 , Aliu Mohammed  2 , Eugene Budu  3 , James Boadu Frimpong  2 , Justice Kanor Tetteh  3 , Bright Opoku Ahinkorah  4 , Abdul-Aziz Seidu  5   6   7
Affiliations

Sexual autonomy and self-reported sexually transmitted infections among women in sexual unions

Collins Adu et al. Arch Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are major public health challenges worldwide. Despite the importance of sexual autonomy in the prevention and control of sexual and reproductive health disorders such as STIs, there are limited studies on the possible relationship between women's sexual autonomy and self-reported STIs, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study, therefore, examined the association between sexual autonomy and self-reported STIs among women in sexual unions in SSA.

Methods: Data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 31 countries in SSA conducted between 2010 and 2019 were analysed. A total of 234,310 women in sexual unions were included in the study. Data were analysed using binary logistic regression models and the results were presented as crude odds ratios (cORs) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) at 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: The prevalence of self-reported STIs among women in sexual unions in SSA was 5.8%. Approximately 83.0% of the women surveyed had sexual autonomy. Women who had no sexual autonomy were less likely to have self-reported STIs (cOR=0.52, CI: 0.46-0.54), compared to those who had sexual autonomy. Additionally, higher odds of self-reported STIs were found among women aged 25-29, compared to those aged 15-19 (aOR= 1.21, CI: 1.09-1.35); those who reside in urban areas, compared to those who reside in rural areas (aOR= 1.51, CI: 1.37-1.66) and those who were cohabiting, compared to those who were married (aOR= 1.65, CI: 1.52-1.79). On the other hand, lower odds of self-reported STIs were found among women who were exposed to newspapers (aOR= 0.89, CI: 0.82-0.95), those whose partners had primary education (aOR= 0.84, CI: 0.78-0.91), those who were not exposed to radio (aOR= 0.84, CI: 0.79-0.89), and working women (aOR= 0.86, CI: 0.80-0.93).

Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that sexual autonomy is a significant predictor of self-reported STIs among women in sexual unions in SSA. Thus, instituting policies and programs that empower women and improve their levels of sexual autonomy may result in increased self-reporting of symptoms associated with STIs which subsequently help in minimising STI-related complications. Also, policies aimed at enhancing women's sexual autonomy may reduce the burden of STIs in SSA, especially among women in sexual unions.

Keywords: Public health; STIs; Sexual autonomy; Sub-Saharan Africa; Women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of SR-STI among women in sexual union in SSA
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of sexual autonomy among women in sexual union in SSA
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Dagnew GW, Asresie MB, Fekadu GA. Factors associated with sexually transmitted infections among sexually active men in Ethiopia. Further analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data. PloS One. 2020;15(5):e0232793. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arakkal GK, Damarla SV, Kasetty HK, Chintagunta S. R. Changing trends in sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic attendees–Current scenario. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2014;3(10):1215–18. doi: 10.5455/ijmsph.2014.260620141. - DOI
    1. Newman L, Rowley J, Vander Hoorn S, Wijesooriya NS, Unemo M, Low N, Temmerman M. Global estimates of the prevalence and incidence of four curable sexually transmitted infections in 2012 based on systematic review and global reporting. PloS one. 2015;10(12):e0143304. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143304. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gios L, Mirandola M, Toskin I, Marcus U, Dudareva-Vizule S, Sherriff N, Rafila A. Bio-behavioural HIV and STI surveillance among men who have sex with men in Europe: the Sialon II protocols. BMC Public Health. 2016;16(1):1–10. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-2783-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Unemo M, Bradshaw CS, Hocking JS, de Vries HJ, Francis SC, Mabey D, Fairley CK. Sexually transmitted infections: challenges ahead. The Lancet infectious diseases. 2017;17(8):e235–79. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30310-9. - DOI - PubMed