Knowledge and Attitudes on Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues Among Sendafa High School and Preparatory Students

Desalegn Neme,Matifan Dereje Olana

doi:10.11648/j.sjph.20190705.11

Abstract

The world population is composed of 18% of adolescents (10–19 years) and 26% of young people (10–24 years). Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge is an important predictor of an individual's sexual behavior. Adolescents in sub Saharan Africa, including the current study setting, Ethiopia has limited knowledge and attitude about sexual issues. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes on sexual and reproductive health issues among Sendafa high school and preparatory students. Cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from May to July, 2016 G.C., at Sendafa high school and preparatory students. All unmarried and aged 13-24, who are attending school during the data collection were included in the study. Study participants were interviewed about their socio demographic characteristics and their knowledge and attitudes on sexual and reproductive health issues using structured questionnaire. A total of 304 Sendafa high school students were assessed for Knowledge and attitudes on sexual and reproductive health issues during study period. Out of the total, 165 (54.3%) were male and 139 (45.7%) were females. Two hundred forty eight 248 (81.5%) of the students knew about sexual transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDs 206 (67.7%) and Gonorrhea 80 (26.3%). The most frequent sources of information about SRH issue were 158 (51.9%), 151 (49.6%) and (45 (14.8%), school, Media and peers respectively. According to the finding of the current study knowledge and attitudes on sexual and reproductive health issues among Sendafa high school and preparatory students is good but need improvement.

Highlights

The world population is composed of 18% of adolescents (10–19 years) and 26% of young people (10–24 years) [1]
Young people from sub-Saharan Africa countries are more at risk of sexual and reproductive health problems than those young people from around the world and the region contribute the highest risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV infections [3, 4]
Study participants were interviewed about their socio-demographic characteristics and assessed regarding their communication levels and factors influencing on Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues by using a structured questionnaire

Summary

Introduction

The world population is composed of 18% of adolescents (10–19 years) and 26% of young people (10–24 years) [1]. Young people from sub-Saharan Africa countries are more at risk of sexual and reproductive health problems than those young people from around the world and the region contribute the highest risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV infections [3, 4]. Different evidence suggests that even though there is high level of sexual activity in adolescents, there is a limited knowledge of sexual and reproductive health issues among adolescents in different communities; low levels of contraceptive use and negative attitudes toward modern contraceptive methods [5], high pre-marital sex (94.3%) and abortion (88.5%) [6], and Knowledge of more than one contraceptive method was low (39.0%) [7]. Many adolescents have limited knowledge about basic sexually transmitted infections, only 33.3%, 37.9% and 14.5% knew that syphilis, gonorrhea, and hepatitis B, are sexually transmitted diseases [8]. Knowledge of menstruation is limited among adolescents, where opening a conversation

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