Abstract
BACKGROUND: Unintended pregnancy which ends up majorly with induced abortion is the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity around the globe. Youths are more prone to unintended pregnancy because of the rising level of premarital sexual practice across all parts of the world. This raising level of premarital sex can be partly explained by the fact that youths face various problems in regulating fertility through the use of modern contraceptives. Lack of information, socio-cultural, economic barriers in accessing contraceptives, violence as well as socio-cultural beliefs impede major role in preventing unintended pregnancy. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and determinants of unintended pregnancy among female high school students of Arsi Zone. METHODOLOGY: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted between February and August 2018 G. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to reach 830 respondents. A bivariate analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between unintended pregnancy and explanatory variables. Variables that were statistically significant (with p-value <0.05) at the bivariate level were included in the multivariate logistic regression to control confounding factors and determine the independent determinants of unintended pregnancy among high school students. RESULT: Forthy five (30%) of the respondents reported that they were pregnant at the time of the study period. Of the study participants who had been pregnant, 28(62.22%) students got their pregnancy at the age of 16 and 17; and 6(13.33%) got pregnant at the age of 18 and 19. Age at first sexual intercourse, using contraceptive methods, drinking alcohol, chewing kchat, lack of knowledge, and failure to discuss reproductive health information with families were significant predictors of unintended pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of unintended pregnancy among the study participants is high (29.3%), and almost all were ended up with abortion. Most reasons reported for having unwanted pregnancy were that they were still in school and they don’t have money to take care of their baby. Keywords: Prevalence, Untended pregnancy, Arsi Zone
Association Between Menstrual Disorders and Obesity-Related Anthropometric Indices in Female High School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
