Sexual and procreation preferences of adolescents and young adults infected perinatally with HIV in Southeast Nigeria: a hospital-based cross-sectional study

Introduction: children with perinatal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection now survive to adolescence and adulthood and so are confronted with issues related to sexuality and sexual reproductive health. This study is aimed at determining the sexual knowledge and behaviours of these adolescents, determining their procreation intention and the impact of their age, gender and understanding of the mother to child transmission risk on their procreation intention. Methods: a hospital-based cross-sectional study of adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 years infected with HIV in the perinatal period, accessing tertiary care in Enugu. A pretested questionnaire was used to obtain information about socio-demographic variables, sexual knowledge and behaviour, procreation intention and knowledge of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Data analysis was descriptive and a test association using fisher's chi square was done on the variables. Results: seventy-one adolescents were studied. The majority (95.8%) were less than 20 years of age. Mean age was 17.01 +/- 1.80 years with M: F ratio of 1:1.7. Nineteen (26.8%) were sexually active with 15 (78.9%) having single partners. About 80% had their first sexual activities before the age of 18 years. Fifty-six (78.9%) received some form of sex education. Only gender and socioeconomic status was significantly related to marriage and procreation intentions of respondents. Conclusion: there's need for sustained/intensive education programs and policy on sexual practices with focus on perinatally infected adolescents who may not be well informed on risk and consequences of their sexual preferences.