The explanatory power of factors associated with the perceived risk of contracting HIV among senior secondary school learners in Kumba, Cameroon

Abstract

This article reports on the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions relating to HIV / AIDS and condom use, and reported sexual behaviours among senior secondary school learners in Kumba, Cameroon. The goal of the study was to determine how at risk learners perceived themselves to be of contracting HIV / AIDS within the parameters set by the Health Belief Model (HBM). The objective of the article is to report on the components of the HBM with statistically significant explanatory associations with the outcome variable of how at risk respondents perceived themselves to be with regard to contracting the HI-virus. A quantitative descriptive, exploratory and correlational research design was adopted, using a self-designed questionnaire for data collection. Respondents were selected through disproportional stratified simple random sampling resulting in 480 (240 male and 240 female) grade 10 to grade 12 learners from two participating secondary schools in Kumba, Cameroon. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using the SPSS version 12 software program. Logistic regression analysis indicated that demographic data and perceived barriers to condom use were the only two factors that had statistically significant relationships with the outcome variable at the level p < 0.05.