Abstract:
Background: The period of adolescence is a life phase in which young people are particularly
vulnerable to health risks, especially those related to sexuality and reproduction: Bole area has
the environment which facilitates school adolescents to be involved in risky sexual practice. Indepth
study of the prevalence of high risk behaviors and the factors that contribute to the risky
sexual practices helps to design interventions that can help save adolescents from different
problems related to sexuality and reproduction.
Objectives: the objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of risky sexual practice
and associated factors among Bole senior secondary and preparatory school students in Addis
Ababa.
Methods: A cross sectional study using both quantitative and qualitative data collection method
was conducted in Bole senior secondary and preparatory school from November 2010-May
2011.
Results: One hundred twenty (25%) of the respondents ever had sex. Among these sexually
active respondents 66.7% practiced unprotected sex and had 65.8 % multi-sexual partners. The
median age of sexual initiation was 16years. Watching pornography films
(AOR=3.66;95%CI1.17,11.4) and Khat chewing(AOR=2.4;95%CI1.05,5.4)are found to be
significantly associated with MSP. Among males the sexually active were 80(66.6%) and among
females 40 (33.3%).
Conclusion and Recommendation: These results call for further studies but also strategies that
will help Adolescents on the consequences of these risky sexual practices, and also help them
cope with these challenges including use of condoms, avoiding viewing pornographic film and
chewing khat.