Influence of Gender and Age on HIV and AIDS Preventive Practices among Adolescents in Edo State

Abstract

This study focused on influence of gender and age on HIV and AIDS preventive practices among senior secondary school students in Edo State. The survey design employing the descriptive survey design was used to determine the relationship between gender, age and HIV preventive practices among adolescents in Edo State. The population of the study consisted of 91,192 senior secondary school students in Edo State. The multi – stage sampling technique was used to get the sample size of 1,768. The instrument was a questionnaire developed by the researchers. Three research questions and two hypotheses were formulated. The data were analyzed with the Chisquare. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between gender, age and HIV preventive practices among senior secondary school students representing the adolescents in Edo State in hypotheses one and two respectively. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made. Health education in secondary schools should be intensified and parents, teachers, religious leaders and traditional rulers should inculcate good morals into adolescents by showing good examples. Women should also be empowered educationally and financially so as to improve their ability to resist HIV risky practices especially in relation to risky sexual advances.