Variables	Category	Frequency n (%)
Age	18-24	163 (40.3)
	25-34	187 (46.3)
	≥35	54 (13.4)
Sex	Male	224 (55.4)
Sex	Female	180 (44.6)
Religion	Muslim	176 (43.5)
	Orthodox	174 (43.1)
	Protestant	48 (11.9)
	Catholic	6 (1.5)
Educational Status	No formal education	57 (14.1)
	Primary education	93 (23)
	Secondary education	106 (26.2)
	College and above	148 (36.6)
Marital status	Married	230 (56.9)
	Single	153 (37.9)
	Divorced	16 (4)
	Widowed	5 (1.2)
Occupation	Government Employee	63 (15.6)
	Housewife	39 (9.7)
	Farmer	64 (15.8)
	Private Business	50 (12.4)
	Student	78 (19.3)
	Merchant	51 (12.6)
	Other*	59 (14.6)
Residence	Urban	247 (61.1)
Residence	Rural	157 (38.9)

Note; *; daily labor, gold mining, NGO employee and jobless
Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents in public health facilities of Assosa Zone, Benishangul Gumuz, Ethiopia, 2022. (N=404)

Variables	Category	Time of health care seeking for STI		COR (95%CI)	AOR (95%CI)
Variables	Category	Early	Delay	COR (95%CI)	AOR (95%CI)
Age	15-24	80(49.5%)	83(50.9%)	1	1
	25-34	76(40.6%)	111(59.4%)	0.71(0.46,1.08) *	1.09(0.58,2.02)
	≥35	6(11.1%)	48(88.9%)	0.13(0.05,0.32) *	0.36(0.11,1.14)
Educational Status	No Formal Edu.	14(24.6%)	43(75.4%)	0.27(0.14,0.53) *	1.04(0.38,2.90)
	Primary Edu.	21(22.6%)	72(77.4%)	0.24(0.13,0.43) *	0.74(0.31,1.77)
	Secondary Edu.	46(43.4%)	60(56.6%)	0.63(0.38,1.05) *	0.45(0.23,0.90) **
	College & above	81(54.7%)	67(45.3%)	1	1
Marital Status	Unmarried	91(52.3%)	83(47.7%)	1	1
Marital Status	Married	71(30.9%)	159(69.1%)	0.41(0.27,0.61) *	0.54(0.26,1.09)
Occupation	Gov’t employee	28(44.4%)	35(55.6)	1	1
	House wife	13(33.3%)	26(66.7%)	0.62(0.27,1.43)	1.20(0.39,3.68)
	Farmer	17(26.6%)	47(73.4%)	0.45(0.21,0.95) *	1.37(0.44,4.31)
	Private business	20(40%)	30(60%)	0.83(0.39,1.77)	1.40(0.54,3.65)
	Student	42(53.8%)	36(46.2)	1.46(0.75,2.84)	1.39(0.52,3.70)
	Merchant	20(39.2%)	31(60.8%)	0.81(0.38,1.71	1.39(0.53,3.68)
	Other	22(37.3%)	37(62.7%)	0.74(0.36,1.53)	1.11(0.41,3.02)
Residence	Urban	105(42.5%)	142(57.5%)	1.30(0.86,1.96) *	0.70(0.35,1.39)
Residence	Rural	57(36.3%)	100(63.7%)	1	1
Knowledge about STI	Good	111(56.9%)	84(43.1)	4.09(2.68,6.26) *	2.27(1.28,4.02) **
Knowledge about STI	Poor	51(24.4%)	158(75.6%)	1	1
Knowing HIV status	Yes	96(45.5%)	115(54.5%)	1.61(1.07,2.40) *	1.20(0.72,2.01)
Knowing HIV status	No	66(34.2%)	127(65.8%)	1	1
Time of decision	Mild illness	86(49.1%)	89(50.9%)	1	1
	Moderate illness	47(35.3%)	86(64.7%)	0.57(0.36,0.90) *	0.86(0.48,1.56)
	Severe illness	29(30.2%)	67(69.8%)	0.45(0.26,0.76) *	0.99(0.50,1.95)
Perceive the severity	Not Serious	37(23.4%)	121(76.6%)	1	1
	Neutral	32(36%)	57(64%)	1.84(1.04,3.24) *	1.58(0.81,3.08)
	Very Serious	93(59.2%)	64(40.8%)	4.75(2.92,7.73) *	2.24(1.19,4.21) **
Fear of Stigma	Yes	53(25.5%)	155(74.5%)	0.27(0.18,0.42) *	0.40(0.24,0.66) ***
Fear of Stigma	No	109(55.6%)	87(44.4%)	1	1
Provider approach	Yes	138(43.7%)	178(56.3)	2.07(1.23,3.47) *	1.22(0.62,2.37)
Provider approach	No	24(27.3%)	64(72.7)	1	1
cost of services	Yes	65(32.2%)	137(67.8%)	0.51(0.34,0.77) *	0.94(0.54,1.64)
cost of services	No	97(48%)	105(52%)	1	1
Ever use of condom	Yes	57(47.1%)	64(52.9%)	1.51(0.98,2.32) *	1.35(0.71,2.57)
Ever use of condom	No	105(37.1%)	178(62.9%)	1	1
No. of sexual partner	One	120(46.3%)	139(53.7%)	2.12(1.37,3.27) *	2.19(1.20,3.99) **
No. of sexual partner	Two or more	42(29%)	103(71%)	1	1

* p<0.25, ** p<0.05, *** p<001 COR =crude odd ratio, AOR =adjusted odd ratio, CI=confidence interval 1: reference group
Table 5: Bivariable and Multivariable logistic regression analysis of factors associated with time of health care seeking of STI patients in public health facilities of Assosa Zone, Benishangul Gumuz, Ethiopia, 2022

Variable	Category	Frequency n (%)
Time of decision	Mild illness	175 (43.3)
	Moderate illness	133 (32.9)
	Severe illness	96 (23.8)
Source advice about STI	Friend	166 (41.1)
	Health provider	131 (32.4)
	Spouse	65 (16.1)
	Other*	42 (10.4)
Knowing HIV status	Yes	211 (52.2)
Knowing HIV status	No	193 (47.8)
Perceive the severity	Not serious	158 (39.1)
	Neutral	89 (22.0)
	Very serious	157 (38.9)
Fear of stigma	Yes	208 (51.5)
Fear of stigma	No	196 (48.5)

Variable	Category	Frequency n(%)
Good Healthcare workers’ approach	Yes	316 (78.2)
Good Healthcare workers’ approach	No	88 (21.8)
Does cost of services delay you	Yes	202 (50)
Does cost of services delay you	No	202 (50)
Health facility in convenient location	Yes	207 (51.2)
Health facility in convenient location	No	197 (48.8)
Keep privacy	Yes	285 (70.5)
Keep privacy	No	119 (29.5)
Feel comfortable to ask question	Yes	334 (82.7)
Feel comfortable to ask question	No	70 (17.3)
Received needed care	Yes	288 (71.3)
Received needed care	No	116 (28.7)
Much Waiting time in the facility	Yes	205 (50.7)
Much Waiting time in the facility	No	199 (49.3)

Variable	Category	Frequency n(%)
Good Healthcare workers’ approach	Yes	316 (78.2)
Good Healthcare workers’ approach	No	88 (21.8)
Does cost of services delay you	Yes	202 (50)
Does cost of services delay you	No	202 (50)
Health facility in convenient location	Yes	207 (51.2)
Health facility in convenient location	No	197 (48.8)
Keep privacy	Yes	285 (70.5)
Keep privacy	No	119 (29.5)
Feel comfortable to ask question	Yes	334 (82.7)
Feel comfortable to ask question	No	70 (17.3)
Received needed care	Yes	288 (71.3)
Received needed care	No	116 (28.7)
Much Waiting time in the facility	Yes	205 (50.7)
Much Waiting time in the facility	No	199 (49.3)

Variable	Category	Frequency n(%)
Ever use of condom	Yes	121 (30)
Ever use of condom	No	283 (70)
If, yes, how often do you use a condom(n=121)	Always	13 (10.7)
	Usually,	63 (52.1)
	Sometime	45 (37.2)
Number of sexual partners	One	259 (64.1)
Number of sexual partners	Two and above	145 (35.9)
Have sexual activity while symptomatic	Yes	268 (66.3)
Have sexual activity while symptomatic	No	136 (33.7)

Tables at a glance

Figures at a glance