Sh. Kapiga, DETERMINANTS OF MULTIPLE SEXUAL PARTNERS AND CONDOM USE AMONG SEXUALLY ACTIVE TANZANIANS, East African medical journal, 73(7), 1996, pp. 435-442
This paper is based on the analyses of data collected in the Tanzania
Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS). The TDHS national sample was obt
ained by using 1988 population census list of enumeration areas, Infor
mation about sexual behaviour and condom use was obtained from sexuall
y active women (N=4620) and men (N=1440) reporting sexual activity dur
ing the period of four weeks preceding the survey. Univariate and mult
ivariate (using logistic regression model) analyses were done to ident
ify predictors of condom use and highrisk sexual behaviour, About 6% o
f women and 31% of men reported to have more than one sexual partner d
uring the study period, Compared to respondents married once and in mo
nogamous union, the tendency to have multiple partners was increased a
mong never married women [OR 10.9, 95% CI (7.1-16.9)] and men [2.6 (1
7-3.9)], formerly married women [11.5 (7.3-17.9)], and among men in mo
nogamous marriage reporting more than one marriage [12.4 (8.3-18.4)].
Occupation, residence, ever use of contraceptives, and AIDS knowledge
were not associated with history of multiple sexual partners, Only 134
(9.3%) men and 173 (3.7%) women reported to have used condoms during
the study period, After adjusting for other predictors of condom use,
respondents reporting multiple sexual partners were more likely to hav
e used condom among both women [3.4 (2.2-5.4)] and men [3.3 (2.3-6.0)]
. Condom use was common in urban areas than rural areas and among unma
rried respondents, These results show that high-risk sexual behaviour
is common among men, Condom use was very low indicating that efforts t
o promote condom use has been less successful in Tanzania. More effort
s are needed to promote safer sexual practices and condom use in Tanza
nia.