Sociodemographic correlates of age at sexual debut among women of the reproductive years in a middle-income developing nation

Background: Early sexual debut poses both health and social risks, which justifies this study. Objectives: The main objective of this paper was to test a hypothesis of socioeconomic variables which explains age at first sexual intercourse of Jamaican women aged 15-49 years. Materials and methods: A sample of 7,168 Jamaican women, aged 15-49 years old, was used for this study. The data were taken from the 2002 Reproductive Health Survey. It is a national probability cross-sectional study that is conducted to gather data on the reproductive health matters of women aged 15-49 years. Setting and Design: The survey was drawn using stratified random sampling. This design was a three-stage stratified random sampling design. Statistical analyses used: Data were stored, retrieved and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows, Version 16.0. Ordinary least square regression analyses were used to examine the hypothesis. Results: The mean age at first sexual intercourse of the sample was 16.8 years with 80% of the subjects having had their first sexual encounter before their 19(th) birthday. On average, those who frequently attended church start having sexual intercourse 12 months later (17.4 years, SD = 3.2 years) than those who did not (16.4 years, SD = 2.4 years). Only 11% of those who had their first sexual intercourse were forced to do so. Eleven variables emerged as statistically significant predictors of age of first sexual relations (F-statistic = 176.2, P < 0.0001): Age began using method of contraception; education; subjective social class; forced sexual activity; church attendance; crowding; employment; age of first menarche; shared sanitary convenience; marital status, and area of residence. Conclusion: Public health policies have failed to effectively address the reduction in age at first sexual intercourse of women in Jamaica, and this study shows a need for a multifactorial approach to intervention.