428 https://oamjms.eu/index.php/mjms/index Scientifc Foundation SPIROSKI, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2022 Jan 02; 10(E):428-434. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.7960 eISSN: 1857-9655 Category: E - Public Health Section: Public Health Epidemiology Experiences of Getting Reproductive Health Information from Friends as the Most Infuenced Factor on Human Immunodefciency Virus (HIV) Risk Behavior in Adolescents Tanjung Anitasari Indah Kusumaningrum 1 *, Yuli Kusumawati 1 , Noor Alis Setiyadi 1 , Sim Samphors 2 , Anggi Putri Aria Gita 3 , Novida Rohmawaty 1 , Hestia Selena 1 1 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia; 2 Graduate School of Chea Sim University of Kamchaymear, Kamchaymear, Cambodia; 3 Department of Health Administration, Faculty of Health Science, Universitas Kusuma Husada Surakarta, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia Abstract BACKGROUND: Adolescents are a vulnerable group to reproductive health and sexuality problems. The problem of drug use and premarital sexual behavior is the focus of attention for adolescents because it can be a risk of HIV transmission. Providing information from various parties regarding reproductive health is expected to reduce adolescents risk of carrying out HIV risk behaviors. AIM: This study purpose was to analyze the experience of obtaining reproductive health information (from friends, parents, community, community leaders, social media, and organizations) that most infuence HIV risk behavior in adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on adolescents aged 15–19 years living with their parents in Surakarta. The research sample was 450 teenagers. The sampling used convenience sampling technique and data collection using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test in bivariate analysis and logistic regression in multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Information from friends is the most infuential factor on HIV risk behavior in adolescents (OR = 0.314, CI = 0.090–1.102). Teenagers who get information from friends tend to carry out HIV risk behaviors because the information is not credible and comprehensive and is more toward the negative, namely, pornography. CONCLUSION: Reproductive health information from friends is not necessarily correct. Eforts to improve the skills of adolescents to fnd credible sources of information on reproductive health and sexuality are needed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. Edited by: Sasho Stoleski Citation: Kusumaningrum TAI, Kusumawati Y, Setiyadi NA, Samphors S, Gita APA, Rohmawaty N, Selena H. Experiences of Getting Reproductive Health Information from Friends as the Most Infuenced Factor on Human Immunodefciency Virus (HIV) Risk Behavior in Adolescents. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2022 Jan 02;10(E):428-434.https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.7960 Keywords: Experience reproductive health information; Friends; HIV risk behavior of adolescents *Correspondence: Tanjung Anitasari Indah Kusumaningrum, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. E-mail: tanjung.anitasari@ums.ac.id Received: 15-Nov-2021 Revised: 19-Dec-2021 Accepted: 20-Dec2021 Copyright: © 2022 Tanjung Anitasari Indah Kusumaningrum, Yuli Kusumawati, Noor Alis Setiyadi, Sim Samphors, Anggi Putri Aria Gita, Novida Rohmawaty, Hestia Selena Funding: This study was supported by Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Open Access: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Introduction Health is one of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) in which there are eforts to improve welfare for all age groups [1]. Of the many health problems, HIV/AIDS is one of the problems that must also be addressed to achieve optimal health status in accordance with the objectives contained in the SDG’s. Eforts to tackle HIV/AIDS must continue to be carried out through optimizing prevention for someone at risk of HIV/AIDS and treatment for people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA) [2]. HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia tend to increase [3]. There were 50,282 HIV cases in Indonesia in 2019, and the Central Java was the ffth-highest HIV cases in Indonesia in the same year with 5,630 cases. Based on age group, productive age or 25-49 years old is the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS every year. In 2019, there were 70.4% of HIV cases at the age of 25–49 years, followed by the age of 20–24 years (15.3%), 50 years (8.7%), and the age of 15–19 years (3%). In 2018, HIV cases at the age of 25–49 years were 70.4%, aged 20–24 years (15.1%), more than 50 years (8.3%), and aged 15–19 years was 3%. Therefore, the age of 15–19 years is the age of adolescents with the 4 th percentage of HIV in Indonesia. Surakarta City was ranked 4 th in the Central Java until June 2018. There was an increase in new HIV cases by 6.24% in 2017 and 3.61% in 2016. HIV/ AIDS cases at the age of 15–19 years in Surakarta were 2.3%, while those aged 20–24 by 13.5%. The high percentage of HIV at the age of 20–24 indicates the possibility of HIV transmission in adolescence (considering the window period for HIV/AIDS) [4]. Adolescence is when a person experiences a change from a child to an adult. Certain behaviors are prone to occur during adolescence, such as drug use,