Uptake of Sexual And Reproductive Health Services and Associated Factors Among Rural Adolescents in Southern Ethiopia, 2020

Abstract

Aklilu Habte and Samuel Dessu

Introduction: Although 25% of Ethiopia’s population is an adolescent cohort of age 15-19 yrs, the Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Service (ASRH) service utilization has not been adequately researched and addressed, and, therefore, they have had to deal with multiple reproductive health problems. Therefore, assessing the determinants of sexual and reproductive health service uptake in this age group is critical to boosting service use and, in doing so, reducing the burden of illness and disability among adolescents. And so, the motivation at the rear of this research was to look into the level of sexual and reproductive health services utilization and to find out determinants among adolescents who reside in rural districts of Guraghe zone, southern Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken from May 1-30, 2020. A multi-stage method of sampling was employed. A total of 1028 adolescents have been randomly chosen and participated in the study. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were used for data collection. The data was encoded and entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported for analysis to SPSS version 23. A bivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted, and variables with a p-value less than 0.25 were considered candidates for a multivariable logistic regression model. In multivariate logistic regression, variables with p-values <0.05 were declared as statistically significant.

Results: of the sampled 1028 participants, 1009 took part in the study and yielded a response rate of 98.1%. The study found that 281 (27.8%) of adolescents received sexual and reproductive health services. Accordingly, among these SRH service users (n = 281), provision of SRH information and education was the most common item received by 171(60.8%) of adolescents whereas relatively few respondents 32(11.4%) got safe and /or postabortion care. Variables that became important determinants of SRH service utilization were; taking part in peer education (AOR:2.07; 95%CI:1.46-2.94), parental discussion (AOR:3.94; 95%CI:2.77-5.60), availability of youth clubs (AOR:3.15; 95%CI:2.22-4.49), and being knowledgeable on SRH issues (AOR:3.48; 95%CI: 2.44-4.96).

Conclusion: In the study area, sexual and reproductive health service utilization was low. Since most adolescents are enrolled in school, schools can be an excellent way to increase adolescents’ awareness of SRH services through behavioral change communication (BCC). Furthermore, special attention should be given to promoting discussion between parents and adolescents and the creation and strengthening of youth clubs as important steps to improving the use of Sexual and reproductive services for adolescents by the relevant stakeholders.

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