Youth Friendly Reproductive Health Service Utilization and Associated Factors among Preparatory School Students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2021-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Youth make up a large, important, and rapidly growing segment of Ethiopia's population, but they account for a disproportionately high number of the country's unmet reproductive health needs. Promoting comprehensive YFRHS is critical for assisting young people in making responsible reproductive health decisions and empowering them to follow through on those decisions. Great majority of youths in school are undeserved for utilizing users’ friendly services due to lack of awareness to the service, poor communication on RH issues and inadequate service & counseling specifically targeted for this specific youth group.
The school based quantitative cross-sectional study supplemented with qualitative method was conducted to evaluate YFRHS utilization and related factors among Addis Ababa city preparatory school students from April 2021 to July 2021. Multistage clusters sampling technique was used on a total of 695 sampled students by proportionally allocating to the selected government and private schools in the city. The quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire while focus group discussion and key informant interview guides were used to illicit qualitative information. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed on important predictor variables and odds ratio was used to determine the factors that predict the utilization of YFRHS with p- value of < 0.05 as measure of statistical significance. Qualitative data was thematically analyzed to convey meanings and interpretations out of the data.
Of the 695 students participated in the study, only 73 (10.5%) reported to have used the YFRHS in the past twelve month. More than four-fifth of them (82.3%) had however heard about YFRHS, and the great majority of them (63%) also reported that they knew where they could find the services. In the multivariable analysis, being male in gender, living with both of the parents, having convenient working hours of service providers, being knowledgeable on genital ulcer and itching as major symptoms of STI and peer groups being the source of information for YFRHS were positively associated with utilization of YFRHS. On the other hand, being age of 17-18 years, attending in governmental school, having had RH discussion with parents and the presence of YFRHS in nearby areas were negatively associated with YFRHS utilization.
The utilization of YFRHS in the study is very low. Being aware of the major symptoms of STI as RH problem and getting youth friendly services from peer groups have increased the utilization of YFRHS. Efforts that a target in creating and expanding RH information for youths from health providers’ side is paramount. Health service providers need to create a conducive environment in being a major and appropriate source of SRH information through strengthening of the awareness creation strategies on RH issues targeting the youths.
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Keywords
Youth, Reproductive health, Youth Friendly Reproductive Health Services