RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-EFFICACY IN MANAGING HIV TEST RESULTS AND UTILIZATION OF HTC SERVICES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The utilization of HTC services has been low especially among the youth, who include University students. Many reasons have been advanced to explain this trend including negative perceptions associated with HTC services, HIV/AIDS-related stigma, discrimination and fear of a positive HIV test result. However little focus has been made on Psychological barriers to utilization of HTC services thus the purpose of this study was to establish the psychological factors related to utilization of HTC services. The psychological factor under focus in this study comprised of self-efficacy in managing HIV test results. Descriptive survey research design was used while purposive and proportionate random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 310 undergraduate students from Universities in Nakuru County, Kenya. Questionnaires for students and interview schedule for HTC Counselors were used to collect data. A pilot study was conducted using 15 university students to establish the validity of the study. Reliability of the study was established using the test retest reliability method, where a coefficient correlation of 0.78 was considered appropriate. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were employed to analyze the data. Inferential statistics that included Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses of the study. SPSS version 23 was useful in analysis of the data at 5 % level of significance. The findings of the study revealed a statistically significant relationship between self-efficacy on managing HIV test results and utilization of HTC services. The study recommended that HIV/AIDS education should include enhancing students’ self-efficacy in handing HIV positive results. It should also be tailor made towards behaviour change rather than mere acquisition of knowledge.