Table 2 Bivariate analysis of early sexual debut among adolescent girls and young women in Sierra Leone
Variables | Early sexual debut % [ 95% CI] | p-value |
|---|---|---|
Overall prevalence | 26.1 [24.3, 28.0] | |
Age (years) | < 0.001 | |
15–19 | 30.0 [27.4, 32.7] | |
20–24 | 23.2 [21.0, 25.5] | |
Level of education | < 0.001 | |
No education | 35.9 [31.9, 40.1] | |
Primary | 36.7 [32.6, 41.1] | |
Secondary/higher | 20.4 [18.4, 22.5] | |
Current working status | < 0.001 | |
Not working | 20.0 [18.0, 22.3] | |
Working | 31.2 [28.7, 33.8] | |
Read newspapers or magazines | < 0.001 | |
Not at all | 27.1 [25.2, 29.2] | |
Less than once a week | 15.3 [10.9, 21.2] | |
At least once a week | 20.1 [13.0, 29.7] | |
Listen to radio | ||
Not at all | 28.7 [26.4, 31.2] | 0.002 |
Less than once a week | 22.1 [18.9, 25.6] | |
At least once a week | 24.0 [20.8, 27.5] | |
Watch television | < 0.001 | |
Not at all | 29.1 [26.8, 31.5] | |
Less than once a week | 19.7 [16.5, 23.4] | |
At least once a week | 18.5 [14.8, 22.9] | |
Use internet | < 0.001 | |
Never | 29.6 [27.5, 31.7] | |
Yes, the last 12 months | 10.1 [7.9, 12.9] | |
Yes, before the last 12 months | 23.8 [13.9, 37.5] | |
Family size | 0.101 | |
Less than five | 28.2 [25.2, 31.3] | |
Five or more | 25.4 [23.4, 27.5] | |
Marital status | < 0.001 | |
Never married | 21.7 [19.5, 24.0] | |
Married/cohabiting | 31.6 [28.8, 34.6] | |
Previously married | 40.4 [29.0, 52.9] | |
Ethnicity | < 0.001 | |
Creole | 28.7 [13.7, 50.5] | |
Fullah | 12.2 [7.4, 19.3] | |
Kono | 19.7 [13.9, 27.2] | |
Limba | 24.0 [19.7, 29.0] | |
Loko | 24.4 [15.9, 35.5] | |
Madingo | 17.6 [10.7, 27.7] | |
Mende | 25.7 [23.0, 28.7] | |
Sherbro | 12.5 [5.8, 24.8] | |
Temne | 30.0 [26.8, 33.4] | |
Korankoh | 22.2 [14.0, 33.2] | |
Others | 30.6 [23.3, 39.1] | |
Religion | 0.993 | |
Christian | 26.1 [23.0, 29.5] | |
Islam | 26.1 [24.1, 28.3] | |
Ever heard of STIs | < 0.001 | |
No | 40.1 [32.5, 48.1] | |
Yes | 25.6 [23.8, 27.6] | |
Contraceptive use and intention | 0.013 | |
Using | 27.3 [24.5, 30.3] | |
Intend to use | 23.5 [21.2, 25.9] | |
Does not intend to use | 29.3 [25.6, 33.3] | |
Wealth index | < 0.000 | |
Poorest | 35.7 [30.9, 40.8] | |
Poorer | 35.4 [31.6, 39.5] | |
Middle | 29.4 [25.7, 33.3] | |
Richer | 21.0 [18.2, 24.2] | |
Richest | 15.6 [12.7, 19.2] | |
Place of residence | < 0.001 | |
Urban | 20.3 [17.8, 23.1] | |
Rural | 31.7 [29.2, 34.5] | |
Province | < 0.001 | |
Eastern | 26.9 [23.3, 30.8] | |
Northern | 31.6 [27.0, 36.5] | |
North Western | 33.2 [28.6, 38.1] | |
Southern | 24.8 [21.4, 28.5] | |
Western | 16.3 [13.1, 20.2] |