Abstract:
Background: - : Risky sexual Practice is any activity that increases the probability of adverse
sexual and reproductive health. Young aged 15–24 years are at particularly high risky sexual
practice. Risky sexual practice predisposes young people to a variety of sexually associated prob lems. Although several studies were conducted in different parts of the world to understand the
factors associated with Risky sexual practice. But little is known about the issue in among Youth
center users and non-user in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023.
Objective: - To assess the prevalence of Risky Sexual practice among Youth center reproductive
health clinic users and non-user youths in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023
Methods: -community based comparative cross-sectional study design was employed among
800 youth in Addis Ababa. Multi stage sampling was used to select youths from randomly se lected sub cities. Data was collected using self-administered, pre-tested, and structured question naire. Data was entered in EPI data version 4.6, and then was exported SPSS version 21. De scriptive statics was used to describe the finding. Bivariate Logistic regression analysis was also
employed to select candidate of independent variables for multivariate logistic Regression and
associations with p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Result: - A total of 800 youths, both from youth center reproductive health clinic user and non user youths completed the questionnaire yielding a total response rate of 93.2%. The prevalence
of risky sexual practice among youth center user and non-user youths were 183 (46.0%) and 225
(57.7%) respectively. In this study, Attending night club, alcohol drink, living arrangement, hav ing friend started sex, have friend experienced an unwanted pregnancy, attending religious edu cation, discus with parents about reproductive health were factors significantly associated with
risky sexual practice among youth center user and non-user youths.
Conclusion: A significant number of youths had risky sexual practice that might lead them to
different reproductive health risks. Non-users of the youth center were at higher risk of sexual
practice than users. Concern bodies and other actors need to address both type of groups with
adolescent and youth friendly risk reduction interventions by giving due emphasis to youth cen ter non-user youths.
Keywords: Youth, Risky sexual practice, Youth center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
