Risk Behaviors for Getting HIV Infection among University Students in Serbia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine risk-taking behaviors for getting HIV infection among university students in Serbia. The study is based on a cross-sectional survey. Five hundred forty four undergraduate, first year students from two Belgrade universities were selected through random sampling, to answer a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire. Data were collected from 252 students from the Faculties of Medical Sciences, University of Belgrade (FMS) and 292 students from the Faculties of Arts, University of Arts Belgrade (FA). The differences between two groups of students and between students with risk and non-risk behavior were assessed by the χ² and t-test. Besides that, multivariate techniques such as factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used in statistical analysis. Smoking (Odds Radio – OR=5.05, 95% Confidence Interval – CI=3.10–8.24), studying FA, (OR=4.17, 95%CI=2.69–6.46), male sex (OR=3.85, 95% CI=2.38–6.25), committing offences (OR=1.51, 95%CI=1.09–2.08) and older age (OR=1.31, 95%CI=1.10–1.55) were the most significant factors connected with the risk-taking behaviors for HIV transmission among the students. In conclusion, HIV prevention efforts must be sustained and designed to reach young people and to prevent patterns of risky behaviors before they start.