Gender differences in condom use behaviour among students in a Nigerian university

Abstract

Within a social cognitive framework, the present study evaluated condom use behaviour in a sample of students at the Faculties of Social Sciences and Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The study population comprised 262 (62.1 %) males and 160 (37.9%) females with a mean age of 24.1 years (SD = 4.5) and mean educational level of 17.36 years (SD = 5.8). Results show that 422 students (representing 55.2%) were sexually active within three months before the study. Seventy seven per cent of students reported ever using a condom, 89% of females reported condom use by a partner, while 70% of males had used condoms during sex with a partner. Regarding the frequency of use, more males (30%) than females (11 %) had never used condom. We conclude that the majority of sexually active university students in the study do not use condom. However, the females reported greater consistency of use of condom when compared to the males. Condom use behaviour in this sample did not differ markedly from other college student samples.