{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T21:05:08Z","timestamp":1788901508214,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]],"date-time":"2021-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1631232000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"AIDS Support Organization","award":["UGA-C-TASO-1449"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UGA-C-TASO-1449"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We assessed sexual-risk behaviours and HIV and syphilis prevalence among AGYW in Uganda to inform the design of target-specific risk-reduction interventions.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This analysis utilizes data from 8,236 AGYW aged 10\u201324 years, collected in 20 districts, between July and August 2018. AGYW engaged in sexual-risk behaviour if they: a) reported a history of STIs; or b) had their sexual debut before age 15; or c) engaged in sex with 2+ partners in the past 12 months; or c) did not use or used condoms inconsistently with their most recent partners. We diagnosed HIV using <jats:italic>Determine<\/jats:italic><jats:sup><jats:italic>TM<\/jats:italic><\/jats:sup> <jats:italic>HIV-1\/2<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Stat-Pak<\/jats:italic><jats:sup><jats:italic>TM<\/jats:italic><\/jats:sup> <jats:italic>HIV-1\/2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>SD Bioline<\/jats:italic>. We used <jats:italic>SD Bioline<\/jats:italic> Syphilis test kits to diagnose syphilis and <jats:italic>Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay<\/jats:italic> for confirmatory syphilis testing. Comparison of proportions was done using Chi-square (\u03c7<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>) tests. Data were analysed using STATA (version 14.1).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Of 4,488 AGYW (54.5%) that had ever had sex, 12.9% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 581) had their sexual debut before age 15; 19.1% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 858) reported a history of STIs. Of those that had ever had sex, 79.6% (n = 3,573) had sex in the 12 months preceding the survey; 75.6% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 2,707) with one (1) and 24.2% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 866) with 2+ partners. Condom use with the most recent sexual partner was low, with only 20.4% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 728) reporting consistent condom use while 79.6% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 2,842) reported inconsistent or no condom use. In-school AGYW were significantly less likely to have ever had sex (35.6% vs. 73.6%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001), to have had sexual debut before age 15 (7.7% vs. 15.5%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001) or to engage in sex with 2+ partners (5.3% vs. 15.8%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001). Consistent condom use was significantly higher among in-school than out-of-school AGYW (40.1% vs. 12.7%, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001). Overall, 1.7% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 143) had HIV while 1.3% (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 104) had syphilis. HIV and syphilis prevalence was higher among out-of-school than in-school AGYW (HIV: 2.6% vs. 0.9%; syphilis: 2.1% vs. 0.5%, respectively).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In-school AGYW engaged in more protective sexual behaviors and had less HIV and syphilis than their out-of-school counterparts. These findings suggest a need for target-specific risk-reduction interventions stratified by schooling status.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0257321","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,10]],"date-time":"2021-09-10T17:44:13Z","timestamp":1631295853000},"page":"e0257321","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Sexual-risk behaviours and HIV and syphilis prevalence among in- and out-of-school adolescent girls and young women in Uganda: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6480-2940","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joseph K. 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