Utilization of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Experience among Mizan-Tepi University Students in Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is the primary gateway to HIV prevention, caution, and handling, where people learn whether they are infected. This study was aimed to assess the determinants of voluntary counseling and testing experience among students. Methods. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted between November and January, 2020. A simple random sampling procedure was used to select participants from the target group. The Chi-square test, descriptive analysis, and a binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the factors associated with VCT experience among students. Results. Out of 398 participants, 42.5% experienced VCT services. From 59.5% of female participants in the study, only 22.9% experienced VCT services. The logistic regression results revealed that male participants less likely experienced VCT (AOR = 0.549; 95%CI: 0.330, 0.910; $p=0.020$ ) compared to female students. Students who had VCT service access in their surroundings (AOR = 2.348; 95%CI: 1.371, 4.020; $p=0.002$ ), a sexual partner (AOR = 3.795; 95%CI: 1.214, 11.868; $p=0.022$ ), and media access (AOR = 2.374; 95%CI: 1.059, 5.320; $p=0.036$ ) were more likely to utilize VCT services than their reference categories. Conclusions. VCT utilization among students remains limited. In this study, sex, age, region, the education of mother and father, having boy/girlfriend, the source of information, service access, media access, and attitude were the identified factors of VCT utilization. To enhance the usage of VCT services, the facilities should be publicized, and all information regarding VCT should be made available to teenagers.