Factors Influencing Consistent Condom Use among Secondary School Male Students in Limbe Urban City, Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Condoms are an integral part of sexually transmissible infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS prevention, and their use has increased significantly over the past decade. Correct and consistent use of them reduces the risk of HIV transmission by almost 100%.The objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence consistent condom use to prevent HIV/AIDS among secondary school male students in Limbe urban city of Cameroon using the main components of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Methods: A cross-sectional correlational research design was adopted, using a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from a representative sample of 225 male students selected through disproportional, stratified simple random sampling technique from three participating secondary schools. Statistics were calculated using SPSS version 20 software program. Results: The majority of the respondents, 63.1% reported being sexually active, of whom only 31.9% reported using condoms consistently. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicate that perceived severity of HIV/AIDS (P=0.044), perceived benefit of condom use (P=0.026) and socio-demographic factors (P=0.024) were the main factors that had statistically significant relationships with the outcome variable of consistent condom use at the level 0.05. Conclusion: The present findings emphasise the need for interventions to increase the use of condoms in preventing HIV/AIDS and to emphasise the severity of HIV/AIDS among male adolescents in urban Cameroon, and the need to reach them with health education messages before they become sexually experienced.