Risky sexual behavior practice and associated factors among secondary and preparatory school students of Aksum town, northern Ethiopia, 2018

OBJECTIVE: As adolescence is a stage in which human beings face once throughout a lifetime and it is the experimental period for this reason risky sexual behavior is common among young people, and it has several sexual and reproductive health consequences. But it doesn’t get enough attention the status of risky sexual behavior practice and factors’ contributing to it, so this study aimed to identify the prevalence of risky sexual behavior and factors associated with it. RESULTS: From the total respondents 115 (23.7%) had history of sexual intercourse and the mean age for sexual initiation is 15.48 ± 1.99 year. From whom 110 (98.2%) had sexual contact below the age of 18 and only 68 (60.8%) initiate first sex by their own willing. Overall 97 (19.6%) had practiced risky sexual behaviors. Students not facing peer pressure were 0.36 times less likely to develop risk sexual behavior (AOR = 0.357, 95% CI 0.172, 0.744).