BACKGROUND:

Premarital sex may result in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy. Published reports on the prevalence of premarital sex among private college students in Ethiopia are limited. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of premarital sex and associated factors among unmarried students of a private college in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

METHODS:

A cross-sectional study was conducted and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 390 unmarried students of the college selected by stratified random sampling. Associations between variables were determined using binary and multiple logistic regression at P-value less than 0.05.

RESULTS:

Eighty-one percent (316/390) and about 62% (241/389) of the participants were females and 18-21 years of age, respectively. The prevalence of premarital sex was 23.3% (88/378), and 20% (18/86) of the participants started sex before 18. About 68% (58/85) did not use condom at the first sex. Nearly 15.5% (9/58) had multiple sexual partners. About 14.5% (48/332) said oral contraceptive pills prevent STIs. Nearly 59 % (47/80) did not request a new sexual partner for STIs status. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that religion (AOR,4.282; CI95%, 1.229-14.913; P, 0.022), study program (AOR, 3.417; CI95%,1.423-8.206; P, 0.006), having a boyfriend or girlfriend (AOR, 6.259; CI95%,2.866-13.672; P, 0.000), misconception that oral contraceptive pills prevent STIs (AOR, 3.345; CI95%,1.317-8.499; P, 0.011) and taking alcohol (AOR, 3.304; CI95%, 1.319-8.501; P, 0.011) were significantly associated with having premarital sex.

CONCLUSION:

The prevalence of premarital was high among participants. Effective intervention strategies are needed to reduce the prevalence of premarital sex.