Reproductive Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among High School Students in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Abstract Background: Adolescent reproductive health problems are a great threat to adolescent’s warfare and such problems are associated with inadequate knowledge. In Eritrea, as adolescent reproductive health is not given much attention the knowledge is expected to be poor, which could lead adolescents to become victims of adolescence related reproductive health problems and limit their opportunity to build a better future. Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim of investigating the reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice among secondary school students in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. Methods: A cross sectional study design was conducted on 428 adolescent high school students with the age range of 14 to 19 years. Sample size was determined by using a single population proportion formula. Initially, population size of each school and each grade was taken and proportional sample size was determined from each school and then from each grade. The list of students was used and participants were selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analysis were made using SPSS (version 22). Statistical significance level was set at P<0.005.Results: The median age of the study participants was 15 (IQR=2), in which 88.8% were between age of 14 to 16 years with 53% of them being females. The level of knowledge of the students regarding RH was low, with moderate to good attitude. Sexual practice was very low (3.5%) with usage of 86.7% of contraceptive use. Meanwhile, the usage of sexually explicit material was relatively higher (53%). Conclusions: Reproductive health knowledge was low almost in all variables. Meanwhile, significant number of students are already engaged in heterosexual romantic relationships and use of sexually explicit material. Adolescents need to be knowledgeable about themselves and the people they relate to, need sound information about the physical, psychological and social changes that take place through childhood to adolescence.

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Extra-Curricular Activities Improved Reproductive Health Knowledge of Ethnic Minority High School Students in Vietnam

Journal of Family & Reproductive Health ◽

10.18502/jfrh.v13i2.1913 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mai Van Hung ◽

Duong Van Khoa ◽

Hoang Quy Tinh ◽

Trinh Hai Thuy ◽

Nguyen Phuc Hung

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Reproductive Health ◽

Ethnic Minority ◽

Health Knowledge ◽

Control Group ◽

School Students ◽

Sexually Transmitted ◽

Extra Curricular Activities ◽

Reproductive Health Knowledge

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of extra-curricular activities in improving reproductive health knowledge of ethnic minority students in mountainous areas in Vietnam. Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 400 ethnic minority students at Dien Bien Dong Ethnic Minority High School in Vietnam. The selected healthy students with a similar mix of study results and grades were divided into two groups: a control group had no the extra-curricular activities on reproductive health, and an experimental group participated extra-curricular activities on reproductive health. The extra-curricular activities were designed as a series of seminars on numerous reproductive health contents. The retention of reproductive health knowledge was then evaluated by a test containing multiple-choice and single-choice questions. Results: Results showed that the percentage of students who did not correctly understand puberty signs, ovulation time during menstrual cycle, contraceptive method use and sexually transmitted diseases in the control group ranged from 34.5% - 83.5%. Despite the fact that the ethnic minority high school students’ knowledge of reproductive health was poor, the percentage of students who fully understood puberty signs, ovulation time during menstrual cycle, contraceptive method use and sexually transmitted diseases significantly increased and reached at least 90% after attending extra-curricular activities on reproductive health (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The ethnic minority high school students’ knowledge of reproductive health was relatively poor. Extra-curricular activities markedly increased the knowledge of many reproductive health aspects. These findings suggest that it is necessary to improve the knowledge of reproductive health for ethnic minority high school students in mountainous areas in Vietnam, and that extra-curricular activities organized as seminars are effective and suitable to provide and retain students’ knowledge of reproductive health.

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