A study to assess the knowledge of adolescents regarding reproductive health with a view to prepare an information booklet in selected high school at Udupi

Abstract

Descriptive research designs with descriptive survey approach were used to evaluate the knowledge regarding reproductive health among adolescents in selected school, Udupi district. In the view of nature of the problem and accomplish the objectives of the study, a structured self-administered knowledge questionnaire was prepared to assess the knowledge of adolescents of a selected school and later the informational booklet was given. Reliability of the tool was tested and validity was ensured in consultation with guides and experts in field of Nursing and Medicine. The study was conducted in Vidyaniketan Public School, Udupi. 100 Adolescents were selected by purposive sampling technique. Structured knowledge questionnaire was used to collect the data. Collected data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The present study revealed that the mean obtained for Overall knowledge scores of adolescents 66 (66%) adolescents had poor knowledge level, 28 (28%) adolescents had moderate knowledge, 6 (6%) adolescents had good knowledge and none of them had excellent knowledge on reproductive health. Area-wise analysis of Knowledge of adolescents regarding reproductive health shows that overall knowledge mean was 15.46 and means percentage was40.4 with standard deviation of 2.801.The variables such as age, educational status, religion, type of family, and educational status of mother, income of the family, age at menarche and source of information does not show any significant association. Hence, the hypothesis H1 is rejected. Interpretation and conclusion: The study revealed that majority of adolescents had lack of knowledge regarding reproductive health. Hence there is a need to improve knowledge of the regarding reproductive health banking through informational booklet. There was no statistically significant association found between knowledge score of adolescents and demographic variables.