Assessment of the Utilization of the Internet for Reproductive Health Education Among Female Adolescent, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a period of dynamic change especially with regard to sexual characteristics and reproductive capacity. Fulfilling the adolescents' reproductive information needs – with their great interest in sexuality- in the era of information technology can be freely access through the internet. This estimated by a cross-sectional analytic study in female secondary schools in Jeddah City to assess the reproductive health knowledge, estimate the internet use for it, and to study the reproductive health related attitudes & behaviors among these adolescents. Methods: Self-administered questionnaire adopted from Arab Family Health Survey Youth Questionnaire distributed among four secondary schools; two schools with new developed curriculum in all the three academic years chosen to represent the northern & the southern areas of Jeddah city, with a matching school with the conventional curriculum chosen randomly in each area. Each curriculum type contains 120 students divided proportionally between the two schools. Proportional sampling also done between the three academic years and the number of classes in each year. Results: 247 questionnaires were distributed in the 4 schools with 100% response rate. 84.5% of the students had identified correctly at least 50% of the signs of puberty, the STD, HIV modes of transmissions & HIV preventive measures. The mean score of reproductive health knowledge was significantly higher in the schools with the developed curriculum than the schools with the conventional curriculum with a p value = 0.007. Other significant independent variables were the higher academic year (p=0.022) and both parents higher level of education (p=0.001 for father, 0.017 for mother). Ninety one percent have searched the internet for health information with a range of frequency from always to rarely. The reproductive health topics were; puberty 11%, marriage 15%, STD 8%, and pregnancy 7%. Around 77% preferred the internet among other sources to get this information. Most of the girls (89%) had received puberty information, where mothers (76%) & schools (66%) being most of the sources. In addition, mothers were the most preferred sources of information (70%). About masturbation, 41% of the students did not know what it is, and 44.5% of the rest believe it is prohibited in Islam. For their opinion about extramarital sex, 87% thought it is prohibited. About 88% identified pregnancy as an outcome for extramarital sex, 82% for STD, 89% for shame, 64% for punishment; while 99% disagreed that, there will be no outcome. Conclusion & Recommendations: The reproductive health knowledge was significantly higher among the new curriculum students compared to the conventional curriculum students. The majority of the students have used the internet for health information including the reproductive health topics. Most of them were against masturbation & extramarital sex, recognizing the consequences of the latter. Education programs should target mothers of adolescent girls to enrich their information.