Sexual Health Knowledge and Attitude among the Sexually Abused Adolescents: A Single Centre Study

Introduction: Sexual education is an important step to prevent unwanted pregnancy, abortions and sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) in adolescent. Assessment of the sexual health knowledge and the attitude towards premarital sexual activity are essential to fill in this gap of knowledge. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the knowledge on the sexual health and attitude towards premarital sexual activity among the sexually abused adolescent. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 88 female teenagers who were admitted to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia for sexual abuse. Using a self-administered validated Malay questionnaire, participants were guided to answer the question on knowledge and attitude. The attitude was categorized to a permissive and non-permissive attitude. Simple and multiple binary logistic regression were used to analyze the associated factors with the attitude. Result: The lowest percentage of correct responses included: penile discharge during ejaculation contains sperm (5.7%), pregnancy may not occur if having sexual intercourse once only (26.1%), having vaginal washing after sexual intercourse prevents pregnancies (19.3%). Forty-one (48.0%) of participants had a permissive attitude whereas forty-seven (53.4%) had a non-permissive attitude toward premarital sexual activity. Simple and multiple logistic regressions did not reveal any significant associated factors. Conclusion: The sexual health knowledge among sexually abused children was inadequate and they were at risk of permissive attitude toward premarital sexual activity. We could not identify any factors related to the permissive attitude in our study.

Level of Knowledge on Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Youths in Southern Region of Peninsular Malaysia

Background: Premarital sexual activity is associated with low level of knowledge of sexual and reproductive health which gives less control over decision making pertaining to sexuality. Low understanding of sexual and reproductive health knowledge made adolescents unaware of the consequences of premarital sexual activity. This study aimed to describe the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health among youths in the state of Johor, in southern region of peninsular Malaysia.Materials and Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted in eleven health facilities in Johor state, Malaysia. The study samples were all youths who fulfilled study inclusion and exclusion criteria. The youths were assessed through a validated self-administered, anonymous questionnaire on sociodemographic background and 21 items of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health. Descriptive statistics were employed to present the findings.Results: There were 204 respondents involved in the study. The mean (±standard deviation) age of respondents was 21 years old (±1.9). Majority of them were female (60.7%) and Malay (89.1%). Most of the respondents had high level of education (secondary and tertiary levels) (98.5%). A small percentage of the respondents were smokers (18.6%), alcohol drinkers (7.5%), drug users (3.5%), and a smaller portion reported of having history of sexually molested (4%). This study found sexual exposure among subjects ranged from reading (35.3%) and watching pornographic materials (44%), imagining sex (18.2%), as well as masturbating (21.1%). As for level of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health, majority of our respondents had low level of knowledge on the domain of sexual activity and pregnancy, complication of premarital sexual activity, and contraception.Conclusion: As the involvement of youths in sexual activity is getting more prevalent, youth sexual and reproductive health should be prioritized in Malaysia. Public health campaigns need to focus on the positive aspects of healthy sexual relationships. The importance of ensuring easy access to sexual and reproductive health services for all youths needs to be acknowledged and addressed.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 05 No. 03 July’21 Page: 315-323

HUBUNGAN ANTARA PENGETAHUAN TENTANG HIV/AIDS DENGAN PERILAKU SEKSUAL PRANIKAH PADA REMAJA

AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi hubungan antara pengetahuan HIV/AIDS dan perilaku seksual pranikah. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode kuantitatif, dengan memilih remaja usia 11-22 tahun yang ditemui di mal-mal sebagai responden. Tempat penelitian dilakukan di Mal Blok M dan Cijantung. Data yang diperoleh dianalisa dengan menggunakan teknik analisa regresi linier dan berganda. Berdasarkan perhitungan didapatkan bahwa pengetahuan remaja tentang HIV/AIDS rata-rata tinggi tetapi dalam aktivitas pacaran masih banyak yang berisiko dan berisiko tinggi tertular HIV/AIDS melalui hubungan seksual. Disarankan agar melakukan penelitian lanjut untuk melihat sumbangan faktor lain, seperti moral, orang tua dan peer agar dapat dilakukan upaya pencegahan yang lebih tepat kepada remaja. AbstractThe objective of this research is to identify relationship between HIV/AIDS knowledge and premarital sexual activity in adolescents. The sample of this study are adolescents whose 11-12 years old. This research took place at Blok M and Cijantung Mall. Result of this study found out that adolescents’ knowledge about HIV/AIDS is high, but still in high risk for HIV/AIDS on their romantic relationship.

A gap between Law and Practice: A Community’s Perception of Unmarried Women’s Abortion Options in Nepal

Background In 2002, the Nepalese abortion law went from being highly restrictive to fully liberal. This study aimed to explore a local community’s perception of the situation for unmarried Nepalese women wanting to practice their legal right to abortion.Methods The study comprised a cross-sectional survey and in-depth interviews with men and women above the age of 16 years living in the Makwanpur District, Nepal. The final data included 55 questionnaires and 16 interviews. The questionnaire data was univariate analysed, while a condensation of meaning analysis was carried out on the interviews.Results The overall awareness of abortion being legal was high, although the extent of knowledge of the specific legal grounds varied. Unmarried women were believed to have access to abortion services, although they risked stigmatisation due to their marital status. The community attitude towards these women having abortions was very negative, hence it differed from the legal acceptance of all women having the right to abortion. This was explained by societal norms on premarital sexual activity. Generally, the participants felt that changing attitudes would be difficult but possible over time.Conclusion A considerable gap exists between the legal acceptance of abortion and community attitudes when it comes to unmarried women as this group encounters barriers when wanting to practice their right. Therefore, these barriers need to be addressed to allow unmarried Nepalese women access to safe abortion services without the risk of being stigmatised.One possible alternative is educational initiatives such as disseminating information vigorously through mass media to create awareness.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v12i2.9869 Health Prospect Vol.12(2) 2013: 24-30

HIV Risk and Adolescent Behaviors in Africa

We investigate the relationship between HIV, marriage and nonmarital sexual activity, with a focus on adolescent behaviors. We use data from 45 Demographic and Health Surveys to examine how adolescent behavior among women born from 1958 to 1965 are related to the subsequent spread of HIV over time. These women were adolescents during the early 1980s, a time when HIV had started to spread but the cause was still unknown. We find that areas with currently high HIV rates had greater female education and more premarital sexual activity in the cohorts that came of age before HIV was understood.