High Risk Behavior, Knowledge and Attitudes of Adolescent Health: A Study from Rajshahi City Corporation Area of Bangladesh.

Abstract

Rashed Alam and Dr. Tapan Kumar Roy

Background: Adolescence is one of the most dynamic stages of human growth and development. It is an important issue in Bangladesh as well as in the world. Reproductive health of adolescents is strongly affected by sociodemographic factors. The purpose of this study was to establish the factors that influence on high-risk behavior, knowledge and attitudes of adolescent, which were regarded as determinants.

Data and Methods: Socio-demographic, health related behavior was collected from 1084 adolescence girls in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area, Bangladesh. Bivariate analysis has been used to show the association between the reproductive health knowledge with some socio-demographic and health related characteristics. In multivariate analysis, binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effects of the various factors to reproductive health knowledge among female adolescent.

Findings: Education is an important determinant of adolescent health. Most the respondent is secondary level of education, which was 64.2%. The study result shows that 37.6% adolescent girl has knowledge about adolescent health care. It also shown that very few numbers of adolescent have idea about abortion, reproductive health knowledge about pregnancy avoids method and family planning method but maximum respondent heard about idea about sex, marriage and knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Logistic regression analysis findings specify that respondent in the age group 15-19 years is more expected to in turn ever having accomplished knowledge about adolescent health. Sexual violence is directly related to the duration of marriage. Married respondents have 0.221 (27.9%) times lower experienced to knowledge about adolescent health than that of the unmarried respondents.

Conclusion: This study needs to strengthen public-private sector partnership and stakeholder participation, active involvement of adolescents in their reproductive health matters. Respondent educational qualification has positively significant effect on knowledge about adolescent reproductive health. Age of respondents, Idea about pregnancy, Idea about abortion, Physical problem during menstruation, knowledge about pregnancy has also significant effect on knowledge about adolescent reproductive health. The most effective interventions are probably structural changes to improve people daily life with families and peers and access to improve education.

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