Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach.
<h4>Introduction</h4>Premarital sexual intercourse (PSI) predisposes never-married women to unwanted pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and high rates of school dropout. This study examines changes and predictors of PSI among never-married women (15-24) in Ni...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321783 |
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| author | Joseph Ayodeji Kupoluyi |
| author_facet | Joseph Ayodeji Kupoluyi |
| author_sort | Joseph Ayodeji Kupoluyi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>Premarital sexual intercourse (PSI) predisposes never-married women to unwanted pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and high rates of school dropout. This study examines changes and predictors of PSI among never-married women (15-24) in Nigeria.<h4>Methods</h4>The study used a 15-year duration of three wave's pooled individual recode (IR) dataset of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) of 2008, 2013, and 2018. A weighted sample size of 23,446 never-married young women was analysed using frequency tables, charts, and multilevel binary logistic regression.<h4>Results</h4>The prevalence of PSI among never-married women (15-24) over the 15-year duration of 3 waves of NDHS datasets was 31.3% [95%CI: 30.3, 32.3] in Nigeria. Prevalence of PSI steadily decreased from 36.8% in 2008 to 31.7% in 2013 and 26.6% in 2018. A 5-year percentage change between 2008 and 2013 showed that PSI declined by 13.2%, 16.2% between 2013 and 2018, and 27.7% over 10 years (2008-2018). Never-married women aged 20-24 had higher odds (OR= 7.8, 95%CI [6.9, 8.8], p < 0.001) of engaging in PSI than those aged 15-19. The community's knowledge of modern methods, literacy level, socio-economic status, education, religion, region of residence, employment status, and exposure to mass media were strongly associated with PSI. The intra-class correlation value of 10.1% indicates that contextual factors significantly explained the variations in PSI between clusters. The proportional change in variance of 41.3% explained the variability in the odds of PSI explained by each model with more terms.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This study established a steady decrease in the prevalence of PSI among never-married women (15-24) over the 15-year duration of 3 waves of NDHS datasets (2008, 2013, and 2018). Thus, we conclude that concerted efforts are required to empower young women to contribute to a further reduction in PSI to improve the general national health status of women and to ensure progress towards achieving a reduction in early pregnancies among unmarried women in Nigeria. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
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| spelling | doaj-art-14d5ff0dea494e87b2daec66ea22064f2025-08-20T03:52:04ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01204e032178310.1371/journal.pone.0321783Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach.Joseph Ayodeji Kupoluyi<h4>Introduction</h4>Premarital sexual intercourse (PSI) predisposes never-married women to unwanted pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and high rates of school dropout. This study examines changes and predictors of PSI among never-married women (15-24) in Nigeria.<h4>Methods</h4>The study used a 15-year duration of three wave's pooled individual recode (IR) dataset of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) of 2008, 2013, and 2018. A weighted sample size of 23,446 never-married young women was analysed using frequency tables, charts, and multilevel binary logistic regression.<h4>Results</h4>The prevalence of PSI among never-married women (15-24) over the 15-year duration of 3 waves of NDHS datasets was 31.3% [95%CI: 30.3, 32.3] in Nigeria. Prevalence of PSI steadily decreased from 36.8% in 2008 to 31.7% in 2013 and 26.6% in 2018. A 5-year percentage change between 2008 and 2013 showed that PSI declined by 13.2%, 16.2% between 2013 and 2018, and 27.7% over 10 years (2008-2018). Never-married women aged 20-24 had higher odds (OR= 7.8, 95%CI [6.9, 8.8], p < 0.001) of engaging in PSI than those aged 15-19. The community's knowledge of modern methods, literacy level, socio-economic status, education, religion, region of residence, employment status, and exposure to mass media were strongly associated with PSI. The intra-class correlation value of 10.1% indicates that contextual factors significantly explained the variations in PSI between clusters. The proportional change in variance of 41.3% explained the variability in the odds of PSI explained by each model with more terms.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This study established a steady decrease in the prevalence of PSI among never-married women (15-24) over the 15-year duration of 3 waves of NDHS datasets (2008, 2013, and 2018). Thus, we conclude that concerted efforts are required to empower young women to contribute to a further reduction in PSI to improve the general national health status of women and to ensure progress towards achieving a reduction in early pregnancies among unmarried women in Nigeria.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321783 |
| spellingShingle | Joseph Ayodeji Kupoluyi Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach. PLoS ONE |
| title | Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach. |
| title_full | Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach. |
| title_fullStr | Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach. |
| title_short | Changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never-married women (15-24 years) in Nigeria: A multilevel approach. |
| title_sort | changes and predictors of premarital sex intercourse among never married women 15 24 years in nigeria a multilevel approach |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321783 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT josephayodejikupoluyi changesandpredictorsofpremaritalsexintercourseamongnevermarriedwomen1524yearsinnigeriaamultilevelapproach |