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HIV/AIDS risk perception and behavior of college students of the Metekel Zone, Benishangul Gumuz regional state, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Sexual and reproductive health problems are the main causes of death, disability and disease among young people in the world, particularly in Africa. The objective of this study was to assess human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) risk perception and behavior, and factors associated with risk perception, among college students of the Metekel Zone, Ethiopia. An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used. The data were collected using a pretested and self-administered questionnaire, were entered into EPI INFO version 6 and exported into Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 for analysis. Variables with p < 0.02 in the bivariate logistic regression were entered to multivariate logistic regression and variables with p < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Three hundred and eighty-eight students were participated. Total 43% of respondents (50.70% males and 34.10% females) had had sex. About 48.81% of the sexually active respondents reported that they had had sexual intercourse with two or more partners. About 16.49% of study participants perceived themselves at risk of getting HIV/AIDS and the most frequently, cited reasons for perceiving oneself at risk were having sex without a condom, having multiple sexual partners and having sex with commercial sex workers (CSW). Chewing khat (adjusted OR = 3.54, 95% CI: 1.45‒8.63); being willing to undergo voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) (adjusted OR = 4. 30, 95% CI: 1.09‒16.88); having seen a person infected/dead of HIV (adjusted OR = 4.23, 95% CI: 1.36‒13.13) and having multiple sexual partners (adjusted OR = 6.10, 95% CI: 2.40‒15.44) were significantly associated with HIV risk perception. The risk perception of HIV/AIDS among the college students was low despite their involvement in different risky sexual behaviors. The government should use mass media techniques, such as television, radio, mobile services and posters to spread information on HIV transmission prevention among college students, especially information on the importance of condom use, minimizing the number of sexual partners and VCT. College administrations need to disseminate information through special lectures, and group discussions about khat chewing, HIV/AIDS and VCT.