scholarly journals Determinants of Contraceptives Uptake among Adolescents’ Girls Aged 14-19 Years in Homa Bay County

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Stephen Owende Owoko ◽  
Eddy Okoth Odari ◽  
Daniel Mokaya

Introduction. Adolescents are individuals aged between 10-19 years. This phase is characterised by rapid growth, sexual maturation, and sexual exploration. These behaviours expose sexually active adolescent girls to a greater risk of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion, and sexually transmitted infections. This study aimed to assess the determinants of contraceptives uptake among adolescent girls in Homa Bay County in Kenya with specific objectives assessing the level of awareness, uptake as well as evaluating the factors affecting the sexual & reproductive health service provision to adolescent girls in the region. Result: A cross-sectional survey was done targeting 385 girls and 32 health facilities. The response rate was 100%, with the level of knowledge on contraceptives at 97.6%. The main sources of knowledge on contraceptives were from teachers in schools (30%), peers (17.2%) and media. 70% of the respondents were in a heterosexual relationship of which 58.6% preferred male condom use as their contraceptive method of choice, while the use of pills was the least at 0.6%. The majority (57.9%) of the girls did not practice safer sex exposing them to a higher risk of Sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. Discussions: The level of contraceptive uptake significantly varied from one sub-county to the other (p < 0.005), with the sub-counties in the Islands of Lake Victoria such as Suba sub-counties having up to 80% lesser chance of their girls using any form of contraceptives (OR = 0.2; CI: 0.2–0.8). Major barriers were the fear of side effects (51.8%) and self-stigmatisation (13.4 %). Health facilities were the main source of contraceptives (77.1%); however, the study noted a lack of youth-friendly services that would favour increased access. Further, there was a complete lack of knowledge on adolescent sexual and reproductive health policies and procedures among the girls (39.6%). Conclusion: Misinformation, cultural perception on the use of contraceptives among adolescents, and lack of youth-friendly services in health facilities are key drivers to the underutilisation of contraceptives by adolescent girls in Homabay county. Adolescents from the island stand a higher risk of non-utilisation of contraceptives compared to their mainland counterparts. Recommendations: There is a need for strengthened youth-friendly comprehensive sexual health education and services in all health facilities with more emphasis on risk reduction interventions and sensitisation of young girls on the available policies. Mechanisms should be availed, specifically to reach the “hard to reach” adolescent populations in the islands.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Imran O. Morhason-Bello ◽  
Adeniyi F. Fagbamigbe

Background. Adequate knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is critical for effective control of disease. Health education/counselling at the point of care provides ample opportunities to improve knowledge of patient seeking treatment. There is no study from Nigeria that investigates association between sources of previous point of care of STI and quality of knowledge of people on STI. We hypothesised that previous treatment of STI will be associated with better knowledge of STI and HIV infection. Methods. Three consecutives nationally representative cross-sectional surveys on HIV and AIDS Reproductive Health in Nigeria, conducted in 2005, 2007, and 2012 were analysed. Outcome measures were knowledge of STI only, and a combined knowledge of STI and HIV transmission and prevention. We designed a knowledge scale of 14-item questions for STI and 41-item questions for STI and HIV. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors at 5% significance level. Results. Knowledge of STI increased from 13.4% in 2005 to 15.0% in 2007 to 26.5% in 2012. Respondents that received treatment from pharmacy and patient medicine vendors had higher odds of good knowledge of STI than those who did not receive any treatment (aOR = 2.55) in 2005. In 2012, respondents treated at health facilities were over two times likely to have good knowledge of STI and HIV transmission and prevention (aOR = 2.35). STI positive individuals in the highest economic class were two times likely to have good knowledge of STI and HIV transmission and prevention than those in the lowest class. Conclusion. Participants that previously sought care from health facilities, pharmacy, and patient medicine vendors had better knowledge of STIs and HIV infection prevention and transmission than those who sought care from unorthodox sources. We recommend a national awareness creation on STI prevention including provision of information on safe point of care for STIs in Nigeria.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Binezero Mambo ◽  
Franck K. Sikakulya ◽  
Robinson Ssebuufu ◽  
Yusuf Mulumba ◽  
Henry Wasswa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted health care access in many countries. The aim of this study was to explore factors that influenced access and utilisation of sexual and reproductive health services among Ugandan youths during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Methods This was across-sectional study carried out from April 2020 to May 2020 in Uganda. A questionnaire was administered online to participants aged 18 to 30 years. Subjects were recruited using a snowballing approach. STATA version 14.2 was used for statistical analysis.Results Of 724 participants, 203 (28%) reported that they did not have access to information and/or education concerning sexual and reproductive health (SRH). More than a quarter of the participants (26.9%, n=195) reported that testing and treatment services of sexually transmitted infections were not available during the lockdown. 27.2% could not obtain contraceptive supplies. Access to HIV services and menstrual supplies were also impaired. Lack of transportation was the commonest factor cited as limiting access to SRH services during the lockdown (68.7%), followed by the long distance from home to SRH facilities (55.2%), high cost of services (42.2%) and the curfew (39.1%). Sexually transmitted infections were the commonest SRH problems related to SRH during the lockdown (40.4%) followed by unwanted pregnancy (32.4%) and sexual abuse (32.4%). Marital, educational, and employment status were significantly correlated with the reported experiences of the participants. Conclusion Access to SRH information and services for Ugandan youths was restricted during the COVID-19 lockdown and may have increased the incidence of poor SRH outcomes. Lack of transportation, distance to health facilities, and high cost of services were important limiting factors. The Government and other stakeholders should incorporate SRH among the priority services to be preserved during future outbreaks.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
B Zaman ◽  
RM Shampa ◽  
MA Rahman

Introduction: Adolescent is an important segment of life while a child undergoes biological transformation.Objective: The study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge of mothers about reproductive health needs of their adolescent girls. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on the mothers having adolescent girls. Data was collected by face to face interview with a semi structured questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS. The knowledge of mothers was assessed by Likert scale.Place of study: The study was conducted at 5 schools of Dhaka city on 118 respondents over a period of four months.Results: It was revealed from the findings that among 118 mothers the mean age of respondents were 40.71 years with standard deviation ± 3.707 years. Majority (70%) of respondents were undergraduate qualified and rest were post graduats. Among the respondents, 64% of mothers did not want to provide information on reproductive health to their daughters. Seventy two percent of the respondents had average knowledge about puberty. Among the respondents, 47% had average knowledge regarding adolescent reproductive health problems and 77% of respondents had average knowledge about safe motherhood. Regarding the complication of unsafe abortion, 73% had average knowledge and 70% had average knowledge about consequence of early pregnancy. Fifty seven percent of the respondents had good knowledge about Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Sixty one percent of the respondents had good knowledge regarding the high risk behaviour of the adolescents. Significant statistical association was found between knowledge and education, knowledge and occupation, and knowledge and source of information of reproductive health (p<0.05).Conclusion: The study findings may be helpful for baseline information and would be beneficial to the policymakers and programme planners to sophisticate further strategy to increase mothers' knowledge about the reproductive health needs of their adolescent girls.Key words: Knowledge; adolescent; reproductive health needs DOI: 10.3329/jafmc.v6i2.7266JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 6, No 2 (December) 2010 pp.9-12


Healthline ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Anita Punia ◽  
Jyoti Yadav ◽  
Babita ◽  
Sanjay Kumar Jha ◽  
Sanjeet Singh ◽  
...  

Introduction: Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs) and Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to be a major public health problem and affecting women's health. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of RTIs/STIs among married women aged 18-49 years in rural areas and to determine the factors associated with these conditions. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 308 eligible married women aged 18-49 years in rural areas in District Sonipat, Haryana using the WHO-Syndromic Approach for diagnosis of RTIs/STIs. Results: The mean age of study subjects in our study was 32.1 years (SD = ± 8.3 years) with a range from 18 to 49 years. The overall RTIs/STIs prevalence was 49.3%. The most frequent symptom was vaginal discharge (55.3%) followed by pain during micturition (34.2%), dyspareunia (26.9%), pain lower abdomen (24.3%) and vulval itching (16.4%). RTI/STI symptoms were found significantly more among women who had history of any chronic disease, who had irregular menstrual cycles, used cloths as sanitary pads and among those whose husbands were substance users. Conclusions: This study revealed a high prevalence (49.3%) of RTIs/STIs. Awareness about symptoms of RTIs, menstrual and personnel hygiene, raising literacy level of women, drive against use of addictive substances etc. by husbands is needed for control and prevention of RTIs. Primary health care services in respect of reproductive health should be strengthened and raising awareness among women about reproductive health issues through suitable communication strategies in order to bring about a positive behavior change for effective control of STIs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Maina Eva Mumbi ◽  
Mwangi John Hiuhu ◽  
Njuguna Felix Tharao ◽  
Maingi Nancy Nyambura

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge of nurses on syndromic management of STIs in public health facilities within Kirinyaga west Sub County. Methodology: The study utilized descriptive cross-sectional study design, with a target population of 70 nurses working in 16 Kirinyaga west public health facilities. The dependent variable was applying syndromic approach management of sexually transmitted infections, independent variables as knowledge and practices. The study utilized purposive sampling technique to determine the sample size of 49 nurses. The study employed the use of a questionnaire as a data collection tool and check list. A pretest of the data collection tool was conducted at Karatina sub county hospital MCH/FP Findings The study findings showed that 90% of the respondents had general knowledge of what syndromic approach is though 38% were not able to identify the common STIs syndromes and 39% couldn’t correctly identify the STIs that present a genital ulcer. 45% depended on laboratory investigations to diagnose and manage STIs, while 74% had not undergone any training or CME in the last 2 years on syndromic management of STIs and 96%reported that the health facilities they were stationed did not have readily available WHO/NASCOP 2015 guidelines. The respondents did not apply the syndromic approach in managing STIs and that, knowledge and practice on syndromic management of STIs among nurses in Kirinyaga west Sub County is low at 41%. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: There is need for more awareness through capacity building among health workers managing sexually transmitted infections in the communities and therefore the study recommends county Governments to organize for trainings and CMEs on STIs/syndromic approach and identify an STIs management focal person in public health facilities.


Author(s):  
Saili U. Jadhav ◽  
Shubhada S. Avachat

Background: Adolescents comprise one-fifth of India's total population. Knowledge on reproductive health at adolescent age is essential to build their foundation of healthy reproductive practices in the future and to lower the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.Methods: An interventional study was done on 51 adolescent girls at a shelter home (Snehalaya). Informed consent was obtained from the concerned authorities. Data was collected by interview technique with the help of a structured questionnaire prepared by literature search. Response of adolescents was recorded through their answers to the questionnaires. Intervention was done in the form of sensitization lecture with the help of audio visuals and educational posters. The same questionnaire was again interviewed and the impact of intervention was assessed. Statistical analysis of data was done using percentage, proportion and appropriate tests of significance.Results: In our study we found the average age of menarche of the girls to be 12-14 years, but as several of the girls came from unhealthy backgrounds, they had several menstrual problems like dysmenorrhea, irregular menses. Three of the girls had not experienced menses after 14 years of age. After the sensitization lecture, 56% of the girls were able to write the names of the reproductive organs in the female genital tract. 85% of the girls were able to name the hazards of teenage pregnancy. All adolescents need access to quality youth-friendly services provided by clinicians trained to work with this population. Sex education programs should offer accurate, comprehensive information while building skills for negotiating sexual behaviors.Conclusions: Hence from our project we identified the unmet need of awareness regarding reproductive health amongst adolescent girls and we tried to meet those needs by providing sensitization.


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