Factors Influencing New Hiv Infections Among Youth (15 – 24 Years) in Nairobi County a Case Study of Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital

Abstract

Background There are rising cases of adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 years that are active sexually which is enhancing their risk of contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections. Though Sub Saharan African countries have made notable improvement in controlling new HIV infections, the youth aged between 15 and 24 years remain at high risk. Objective This research sought to study the factors influencing new HIV infections in the youth aged 15 to 24 years in Nairobi County, so that it can inform policy and adoption of targeted interventions. Methodology The study was conducted at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital located in Embakasi Sub-County, Nairobi County through a case-control study. Quantitative data was gathered through a semi structured questionnaire on the Open Data Kit. The population for the case-control study was the youth aged between 15 and 24 years who visit Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital seeking health services. Controls were systematically random sampled while cases were selected to achieve the computed sample size of 424 participants. Ethical considerations of approval, informed consent and confidentiality were upheld. Collected quantitative data was analyzed utilizing descriptive analysis whereas logistic regression analysis was applied to determine whether the independent variables were predictors to the new HIV infection among those aged 15 to 24 years. xi Results Out of the 424 participants who were included in the study, 75% were controls and 25% cases. The female participants represented 57.8% and 42.2% were males. The median age is 21, age ranges from 15 to 24, with an inter-quartile range 19-23. Majority of the respondents were single representing 69.6% and married 30.4%. Majority were Christians representing 85.6% (n=363). In the Univariable analysis of the factors influencing new HIV infection among youth, marital status, area of residence, source of income, age, level of education, household income, age at first sexual encounter, risk behavior of HIV, condom use in last the sexual activity, STIs in the last one year and sexual partner type were found to be significantly associated with new HIV infections among the youths (15-24 years) in Nairobi County, at 20% of level of significance. Results from multivariate analysis indicated that age (aOR-=2.7; 95% CI 1.1-6.2 ), area of residence (aOR=2.1; 95% CI 1.2-3.7), condom use in the last sexual encounter (aOR=2.1; 95% CI 1.2-3.8), STIs in the last one year (aOR=7.5; 95% CI 4.1-13.7) and sexual partner type (aOR=5.4; 95% CI 1.8-16.5) were statistically significant predictors of new HIV infection among youths (15-24years) at 5% significant level. Even after exclusion of the nonsignificant variables in the model, this did not lead to over 30% change in regression coefficients of the remaining variables. Conclusion Socio-demographic factors have significantly significant influence on new HIV infections among youth (15 – 24 years) in Nairobi County. Recommendation The government and other stakeholders in HIV prevention should come up with programs on enhancing implementation of preventive measures such as condom use and basic principles such as ABC(abstain, be faithful and condom use) specifically geared towards the youth.