Risky sexual behaviours among young adults attending Higher Learning Institutions in Mbeya-Tanzania

Data was collected from a cross-sectional designed study, conducted from March 2019 to January 2020 in Mbeya region, Tanzania among students attending Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs) in the region registered by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU). Eligible participants included Tanzanian students enrolled in HLIs within Mbeya region in any year of study, aged 18-24 years of age and agreed to provide written informed consent prior to all study-related procedures. Participants were ineligible to take part if they were students attending short-term courses (< 6 months) or elective students. Each HLI in Mbeya region was invited to participate. A complete electronic list of all students registered, aged 18-24 years of age was obtained from the Academic Registrars' offices. Based on the varying number of students from each HLI, and the study desired sample size, probability proportional to size was used to determine the total number of students by gender from each HLI. Students were not selected based on the department or course they are registered for. Each selected student was notified via phone that he/she has been randomly selected to take part in the study and if he/she was willing to take part, he/she was then requested to report to the data collection point within their respective campuses. An individual self-administered questionnaire was used in the study. The questionnaire was administered using a tablet or smart phone through a web-based software (ODK) or hard copy, which ever method the participant preferred. Data was entered in a database, and thereafter cleaned and analysed using statistical software Stata version 14 for Windows. Ethical approval was granted by the Mbeya Medical Research and Ethics Review Committee (MMREC) Reference Number SZEC-2439/R.A/V.1/07, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College Research Ethics and Review Committee (CRERC) Reference Number 2405, and National Health Research Ethics Committee (NatHREC) Reference Number NIMR/HQ/R.8a/Vol.IX/3092. All eligible participants who agree to participate in this study received study information and were consented prior to any study related activity. Only participant’s study identification number was used in the questionnaire.