Accessibility and Utilization of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Among Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Background: Young people's reproductive health services have been largely neglected in the past, leaving them vulnerable to reproductive health problems like Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion and other harmful practices. Although studies have been done on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, a persistence of reproductive health problems among undergraduates in Nigeria, especially in the Universities necessitated this study. Methods: The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design involving 357 students of randomly selected faculties in the university of Ibadan. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess the accessibility and utilization of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services (SRHSs) among the students. Statistical analysis of data was done using IBM-SPSS version 21.0 software, associations and differences were then tested using Pearson’s correlation test (with significance set at P≤ 0.05), while descriptive data were presented in frequency & percentages. Results: The study found that 70.8% of the respondents have high access to SRHSs, while more than 67.3% underutilized those services. Attitudes of staff in the clinic, religion, cultural practices, longer waiting periods, and lack of privacy were all identified as factors that negatively affect the accessibility and utilization of SRHS. Gender (p=.012), and Accessibility (p=.000) were found to be significantly associated with Utilization of SRHSs. Conclusion: Despite high accessibility, most students still do not utilize available SRHSs. To ensure that young people have access to sexual and reproductive health care in all nursing practice sites, nurses need to gain the knowledge and hone the skills required to deliver evidence based counseling and services to adolescents.