Sexual practices and its predictors among in-school adolescents in an urban city in North Central Nigeria

Objective: To assess the sexual practices and its predictors among in-school adolescents in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed, using a pretested semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire from 400 respondents via multistage sampling technique. Results: Almost half of the respondents (47.5%) have had only one sexual partner before and more than half of them (52.5%) have had two or more partners. Less than one fifth of the respondents (18.0%) had had sexual intercourse. More than half of the respondents (56.9%) who were sexually active used condom at first experience. Respondentsu0027 age, gender and religion were important predictors of sexual behaviour. Conclusion : Risky sexual practices are high in Nigeria and young people especially girls are at risk of morbidity and mortality due to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, complications from unsafe abortion and social exclusion from stigmatization thereby calling for extra attention to this population. Key words : Adolescents, sexual practices, risky sexual behaviour, sexually transmitted infections.