Sexual behaviour and contraceptive knowledge and use among female adolescents in Senior High School in Manhyia submetro, Kumasi

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Date
OCTOBER 2015
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Introduction: Unsafe sexual practices among school girls is one of the challenges in this 21st century. They are at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and getting unwanted pregnancies that may result in unsafe abortion. In view of this, the study was conducted to assess the sexual behaviors, contraceptive knowledge and use among Senior High School girls. Method: this was a descriptive cross sectional study carried out among 240 Senior High School Girls from a purposively selected schools in Manhyia Sub Metro, in Kumasi Ghana. A Self-administered structured questionnaire was given to randomly selected girls in the chosen schools Results: the findings of the study reported 48.7% of the girls having had a boyfriend and 30.8% had ever had sex. Majority (62.1%) had knowledge of at least three methods of contraceptives. The recommended the condom as the method to be used by young people. The findings also showed that 19% of the students in the study used contraceptives. Age and ethnicity were found to be related to contraceptive use (OR=0.013 and 0.002 respectively). The unadjusted effect on risky behaviors showed that students who do not go to clubs (OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.13 – 0.49), cinema halls (OR=0.27; 95% CI=0.13 – 0.56), and do not drink alcohol (OR=0.22; 95% CI=0.09 – 0.52) had a lower odds of using a contraceptive method compared with those who do otherwise. Conclusion: The school girls in the area are sexually active. They have knowledge of contraceptives though they recommend only the use of condoms. A few of the sexually active girls use contraceptives. There is need to teach the girls about the other contraceptive methods that they can use together with the condoms. Authorities should take the responsibility to orient the girls on behavior change and contraceptive use.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Health in Population, Family & Reproductive Health.
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