Sociodemographic characteristics of refugee and displaced youth by sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing services awareness and lifetime STI testing uptake in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda (n=445)
| Variables | Full sample (n (%) or mean (SD, range)) (n=445) | Aware of community STI testing services (n (%) or mean (SD, range))(n=195) | Not aware of community STI testing services (n (%) or mean (SD, range)) (n=250) | P value | Lifetime STI testing (ever) (n (%) or mean (SD, range)) (n=116) | Lifetime STI testing (never) (n (%) or mean (SD, range)) (n=329) | P value |
| Sociodemographic factors | |||||||
| Gender | 0.986 | 0.005 | |||||
| Women | 333 (74.8) | 146 (74.9) | 187 (74.8) | 98 (84.5) | 235 (71.4) | ||
| Men | 112 (25.2) | 49 (25.1) | 63 (25.2) | 18 (16.1) | 94 (28.6) | ||
| Age (years) | 19.31 (2.56, 16–24) | 20.43 (2.66, 16–24) | 18.94 (2.35, 16–24) | 0.000 | 20.02 (2.49, 16–24) | 18.45 (2.39, 16–24) | 0.000 |
| Education | 0.068 | 0.052 | |||||
| Less than secondary school | 234 (52.6) | 93 (47.7) | 141 (56.4) | 52 (44.8) | 182 (55.3) | ||
| Post-secondary education | 211 (47.4) | 102 (52.3) | 109 (43.6) | 64 (55.2) | 147 (44.7) | ||
| Place of birth | 0.738 | 0.219 | |||||
| South Sudan | 35 (7.9) | 18 (9.2) | 17 (6.8) | 10 (28.6) | 25 (7.6) | ||
| Burundi | 115 (25.8) | 48 (24.6) | 67 (26.8) | 22 (19.1) | 93 (28.3) | ||
| DRC | 249 (56.0) | 106 (54.4) | 143 (57.2) | 74 (29.7) | 175 (53.2) | ||
| Rwanda | 19 (4.3) | 10 (5.1) | 9 (3.6) | 3 (15.8) | 16 (4.9) | ||
| Other | 27 (6.1) | 23 (6.7) | 14 (5.6) | 7 (57.9) | 20 (6.1) | ||
| Time in Uganda (years) | 0.019 | 0.004 | |||||
| >1 | 35 (7.9) | 8 (4.1) | 27 (10.8) | 7 (6.0) | 28 (8.5) | ||
| 1–5 | 265 (59.6) | 126 (64.6) | 139 (55.6) | 84 (72.4) | 181 (55.0) | ||
| <5 | 145 (32.6) | 61 (31.3) | 87 (33.6) | 25 (21.6) | 120 (36.5) | ||
| Immigration status (n=442) | 0.106 | 0.441 | |||||
| Refugees | 391 (88.5) | 177 (91.2) | 214 (86.3) | 104 (90.4) | 287 (87.8) | ||
| Asylum-seeking | 51 (11.5) | 17 (8.8) | 34 (13.7) | 11 (9.6) | 40 (12.2) | ||
| Relationship status | 0.002 | 0.014 | |||||
| No current partner | 187 (42.0) | 70 (36.3) | 117 (51.1) | 39 (34.2) | 148 (48.1) | ||
| Dating one partner/married | 185 (41.6) | 91 (47.2) | 94 (41.0) | 63 (55.3) | 122 (39.6) | ||
| Casual dating/multiple partners | 50 (11.2) | 32 (16.6) | 18 (7.9) | 12 (10.5) | 38 (12.3) | ||
| Employment (n=428) | 0.000 | 0.000 | |||||
| Unemployed | 176 (38.6) | 93 (49.7) | 83 (34.4) | 65 (56.5) | 111 (35.5) | ||
| Student | 190 (42.7) | 52 (27.8) | 138 (57.3) | 34 (29.6) | 156 (49.8) | ||
| Employed | 62 (13.9) | 42 (22.5) | 20 (8.3) | 16 (13.9) | 46 (14.7) | ||
| STI outcomes | |||||||
| Lifetime STI testing | |||||||
| No | 329 (73.9) | ||||||
| Yes | 116 (26.1) | ||||||
| STI diagnosis history (n=114) | |||||||
| Gonorrhoea | 10 (8.8) | ||||||
| Syphilis | 7 (6.1) | ||||||
| Herpes | 17 (14.9) | ||||||
| More than two STIs | 11 (9.6) | ||||||
| I do not know | 18 (15.8) | ||||||
| None | 51 (44.7) | ||||||
| Intrapersonal factors | |||||||
| Transactional sex in past 12 months (n=412) | 0.960 | 0.849 | |||||
| No | 284 (68.9) | 125 (69.1) | 159 (68.8) | 78 (69.6) | 206 (68.7) | ||
| Yes | 128 (31.1) | 56 (30.9) | 72 (31.2) | 34 (30.4) | 94 (31.4) | ||
| Lifetime multiple sexual partners (n=251) | 0.000 | 0.004 | |||||
| No | 258 (58.0) | 89 (45.6) | 169 (67.6) | 54 (46.6) | 204 (62.0) | ||
| Yes | 187 (42.0) | 106 (54.4) | 81 (32.4) | 62 (53.4) | 125 (38.0) | ||
| Ever used drugs/alcohol while having sex (n=251) | 0.009 | 0.683 | |||||
| No | 182 (72.5) | 88 (48.4) | 94 (51.6) | 22 (31.9) | 47 (68.1) | ||
| Yes | 69 (27.5) | 46 (66.7) | 23 (33.3) | 63 (34.6) | 119 (65.4) | ||
| Interpersonal factors | |||||||
| Lifetime forced sex | 0.092 | 0.006 | |||||
| No | 354 (79.6) | 148 (75.9) | 206 (82.4) | 82 (70.7) | 272 (82.7) | ||
| Yes | 91 (20.4) | 47 (24.1) | 44 (17.6) | 34 (29.3) | 57 (17.3) | ||
| Condom use self-efficacy | 19.33 (7.83, 7–35) | 19.74 (7.51, 7–35) | 19.01 (8.07, 7–35) | 0.326 | 20.75 (7.79, 7–35) | 18.83 (7.80, 7–35) | 0.023 |
| Community factors | |||||||
| Adolescent SRH stigma subscales | |||||||
| Sexual activity and pregnancy stigma subscale | 5.55 (1.94, 0–7) | 5.08 (2,23, 0-7) | 5.91 (1.59, 0–7) | 0.000 | 5.05 (2.49, 0–7) | 5.72 (1.68, 0–7) | 0.001 |
| Modern family planning and abortion stigma subscale | 5.37 (1.68, 0–6) | 5.08 (1.74, 0–7) | 5.59 (1.59, 0–7) | 0.020 | 5.14 (1.85,0–7) | 5.45 (1.61, 0–7) | 0.088 |
| HIV-related stigma | 31.48 (6.05, 10–40) | 30.56 (5.62, 10–40) | 32.19 (5.62, 13–40) | 0.005 | 30.93 (5.69, 10–40) | 31.67 (5.68, 10–40) | 0.267 |
| Food insecurity | 0.310 | 0.001 | |||||
| No | 125 (28.1) | 50 (25.6) | 75 (30.0) | 19 (16.4) | 106 (32.2) | ||
| Yes | 320 (71.9) | 145 (74.4) | 175 (70.0) | 97 (83.6) | 223 (67.8) | ||
Higher condom use self-efficacy scores indicated higher confidence in using condoms.
* p<0.050, ** p<0.010, *** p<0.001
DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo; STI, sexually transmitted infection.