Abstract:
Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remain a significant public health concern, as more than 1 million sexually transmitted infections are acquired everyday worldwide. The STIs lead to multiple consequences that compromise quality of life. The burden of STI morbidity and mortality, especially in developing countries, leads to sexual, reproductive health, newborn and child health issues and enhance HIV transmission. This study aims to determine the factors associated with self-reported sexually transmitted infections, using the Rwanda AIDS indicator and HIV Incidence Survey (RAIHIS) data, 2013-2014.
Methodology: using a cross-sectional study involving secondary analysis of data collected in RAIHIS survey in 2013-2014, a total of 8176 participants were analyzed with STATA 13.0 version by running frequency of characteristics of variables. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression modeling were performed where association between socio-demographic and sexual risk behavior factors with self-reported STIs were estimated using Chi-square test. The p< 0.05 was significant and the odds ratios (OR) were measured at 95% Confidence Interval (CI).
Results: a total of 8176 participants were considered, included 4365 female (53.4%) and 3811 male(46.6%).The age of study participants was between 15 and 59 years with the mean age of 33 years. Self-reported prevalence of STIs was 8.15%, HIV prevalence was 3.41% and among 279 HIV positive, 55 (19.7 %) had self-reported STIs. The risk of having self-reported STIs was higher in female person than male (AOR:1.34; 95%CI[1.06-1.70]);it was higher in persons with lower education level compared to others(AOR:1.7;95% CI[1.14-2.56] ; it was higher in residents of Kigali City(AOR: 2.02;95% CI[1.38-2.97]),in persons who had last sex with the person who had drunk alcohol(AOR:2.14;95% CI[1.39-2.29]),in persons who had multiple sexual partners (AOR:2.36;95%CI[1.65-3.37]),those who had HIV (AOR:2.76; 95% CI[1.854.12] and those who had ever been forced to have sex with a person in the last 12 months(AOR:
2.20; 95%CI[1.85-4.12]).
Conclusion: Considerable proportion of the population aged between 15-59 years was found to have self-reported STIs. This study also found a high prevalence of HIV among persons who had self-reported STIS and revealed that the factors associated with self-reported STIs were: being female person, having lower education level, being residents of City of Kigali, having last sex with person who had drunk alcohol, having multiple sexual partners, having HIV, having ever been forced to have sex with a person in last 12 months. These findings designate the needs for reinforcement of the interventions aimed to prevent and control STIs in the population
