(175) Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Sexual and Reproductive Health among Adolescent in Malaysia: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Abstract Introduction A good sexual and reproductive health (SRH) encompasses dimensions of physical, emotional, mental and social-wellbeing in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction, or infirmity. A proper curriculum is needed to ensure that all adolescents have a good grasp of knowledge of SRH to have proper attitudes and the right practices in SRH. Objective Currently, it is believed that there is no improvement in status of knowledge, attitude and practice of SRH among adolescents in Malaysia, despite the introduction of sexual and reproductive health topics in the school curriculum. No systematic or proper evaluation to evaluate the effectiveness of the said improved SRH curriculum. This review aims to investigate the status of level of knowledge among adolescents since the introduction of SRH curriculum. Methods A systematic literature review in the form of narrative review was used to investigate the status of knowledge, attitude, and practice of SRH. 109 potential articles were found through Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar and Google. Articles removed due to duplications within and between databases. 109 potential articles were found but only 29 articles met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Selected articles were read through based on the 8 key concepts in the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, 2018. Results The results reported that the knowledge of sexual health among adolescents was just above the average, while poor knowledge in reproductive health. They have a positive attitude towards introducing SRH curriculum as early as primary school. It was found that these adolescents have poor information-seeking behavior, and main resources of information are from peers, internet, and magazine. Parents and teachers were the least chosen as reference. Conclusions There is the need to re-evaluate the current SRH curriculum, and to integrate the healthcare personnel as educator to the adolescents, trainers to the teachers and parents to ensure a holistic approach to a proper SRH education following the CSE guideline. Disclosure No.