Abstract
BackgroundSexuality and reproductive health are among the most fundamental aspects of life. Poor parental involvement in preparing young people for safe sexual life and good reproductive health was part of the blame for the lack of skills on sexual decision making. Despite the growing needs, there is no adequate health service or counseling specifically suitable for this specific age group and research on the role of parents in this process has yielded inconsistent results.ObjectiveThe objective of the study is to assess adolescents’ communication on sexual and reproductive health issues with parents and associated factors among secondary and preparatory schools students in Debremarkos town.MethodsSchool based study was conducted among secondary and preparatory schools students in Debremarkos town, from April 8 to 21, 2012. Multistage sampling and self administered questionnaires were employed.ResultsThe proportion of the students who had discussion on sexual & reproductive health issues with their parent was found to be 254 (36.9%). Mother who able to read and write (AOR = 2; 95% CI 1.3 to 3.1), adolescents accepting discussion of sexual & reproductive health issues (AOR = 2.5 95% CI 1.3 to 4.5), adolescents who ever got SRH information (AOR = 2; 95% CI 1.4 to 2.9), adolescents who ever had sexual intercourse (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) were found to have significant positive associations, and being grade 12 students (AOR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.2 to 0.7) and having less than three family size (AOR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 0.9) showed significant negative associations.Conclusion and recommendationStudy unveils that parent –adolescent communications on sexual and reproductive health issues is low, only about one third of the students were communicating on SRH issues. Therefore; there is a need to equip and educate parents on different sexual & reproductive health issues. Comprehensive family life education should also be initiated for the students and parents.
Highlights
Sexuality and reproductive health are among the most fundamental aspects of life
Mother who able to read and write (AOR = 2; 95% CI 1.3 to 3.1), adolescents accepting discussion of sexual & reproductive health issues (AOR = 2.5 95% CI 1.3 to 4.5), adolescents who ever got Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information (AOR = 2; 95% CI 1.4 to 2.9), adolescents who ever had sexual intercourse (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) were found to have significant positive associations, and being grade 12 students (AOR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.2 to 0.7) and having less than three family size (AOR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 0.9) showed significant negative associations
Study unveils that parent –adolescent communications on sexual and reproductive health issues is low, only about one third of the students were communicating on SRH issues
Summary
Sexual Health is about the enhancement of life and personal relations, and not merely counseling and care related to reproduction and STDs. Young people aged 10–24 years constitute around 1.8 billion and represent 27 percent of the world’s population. Studies suggested that adolescents have limited knowledge about SRH and know little about the natural process of puberty. This lack of knowledge about reproductive health may have grave consequences [1,2,3]. Sexuality and reproductive health are among the most fundamental aspects of life. Poor parental involvement in preparing young people for safe sexual life and good reproductive health was part of the blame for the lack of skills on sexual decision making. There is no adequate health service or counseling suitable for this specific age group and research on the role of parents in this process has yielded inconsistent results
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