title: Regional patterns and correlates of HIV voluntary counselling and testing among youths in Nigeria.
abstract: Prevalence of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for HIV among young people in Nigeria is low with implications on the epidemic control. Using the 2003 Nigerian National Demographic and Health Survey, we examined the regional prevalence, pattern and correlates of VCT for HIV among youths aged 15 to 24 in Nigeria. Analysis was based on 3573 (out of 11,050) observations using logistic regression model to estimate the effects of identified predictors of volunteering for HIV testing. Results show that national prevalence of VCT is low (2.6%) with regional variations. Generally, the critical factors associated with VCT uptake are age, sex, education, wealth index and risk perception with North (sex, education, religion, occupation and risk perception) and South (age and education) variance. It is recommended that Nigerian HIV programmers should introduce evidence based youth programmes to increase the uptake of VCT with differing approaches across the regions.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. dremeka31@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Chukwuemeka E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Nwachukwu
authors.forename: Clifford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Odimegwu
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D011050:Policy Making; D015995:Prevalence; D012041:Regional Medical Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012736:Sex Education / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014837:Voluntary Health Agencies / Q000458:organization & administration; D035141:Voluntary Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D014838:Volunteers / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data