Delaying Sexual Debut as a Strategy for Reducing HIV Epidemic in Kenya: Findings from the Kenya Demographic Health Survey, 2003

Elijah Onsomu, Winston-Salem State University
James K. Kimani, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Benta A. Abuya, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Ahmed Arif, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
DaKysha Moore, Johnson C. Smith University
Vanessa Duren-Winfield, Winston-Salem State University

The objectives of this study were to determine the association between HIV sero-status and age at sexual debut, and factors associated with a positive HIV diagnosis among individuals age at sexual debut. Retrospective cross-sectional data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey-2003 were used. Female, male and HIV datasets were merged together with a sub-data of those accepting a HIV test (n=6,190) retained for analysis, women aged 15-49 (n=3,273 [53%]) and men aged 15-54 (n=2,917 [47%]). Nine percent of women and 5% of men tested positive for HIV. After adjusting for confounding, women and men who had sexual debut aged 8-15 were 5.88,p<0.001 and 3.19,p<0.05 times more likely to have tested positive for HIV compared to those who never had sex respectively. There is a need for continued support and enhancement for programs geared towards informing and preventing the youth from engaging in earlier sexual debut through informed educational policies.