Utilization of Youth Reproductive Health Services and Associated Factors among High School Students in Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

Meskerem Abebe; Worku Awoke

doi:10.4236/ojepi.2014.42012

Home > Journals > Medicine & Healthcare > OJEpi

Open Journal of Epidemiology > Vol.4 No.2, May 2014

Utilization of Youth Reproductive Health Services and Associated Factors among High School Students in Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia ()

Meskerem Abebe, Worku Awoke

College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
GAMBY Colleges of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

DOI: 10.4236/ojepi.2014.42012 PDF HTML 5,807 Downloads 8,871 Views Citations

Abstract

Introduction: Young people in Ethiopia face greater reproductive health risks than adults. Despite efforts that were made on youth to utilize reproductive health service, studies show that there is little information about the extent to which youth utilize available health services. For the proper planning of appropriate health services for youth, it is crucial to have knowledge on the pattern of their use and its associated factors. So this study was conducted from June to September 2013 to assess utilization of youth reproductive health and its associated factors among high school students in Bahir Dar town, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2013. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among High school student from June to September 2013. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the total of 818 study participants. Data were collected by means of a pretested standardized questionnaire; analysis was carried out using SPSS version 16. Crude and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was calculated using binary logistic regression; p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The study indicated that among 818 students, 480(58.7%) were females. The data indicates that, 32% of youth utilized youth reproductive health service. Barriers in utilizing reproductive health services, for 31% of the students were due to inconvenience hours and 28.5% were due to fear of being seen by parents or people whom they know. Among socio-demographic predictors, age and reproductive health problems showed a significant association with utilization of youth reproductive health services. Students with age 20-24 were 2.31 times more likely to utilize reproductive health service than age15-19 (AOR = 2.31, CI 95% (1.01, 5.28)). Similarly, students who had reproductive health problems were 1.54 times more likely to utilize reproductive health services than students who had no reproductive illness. Conclusions: The majority of youth were not utilizing reproductive health services. Age and reproductive health problems showed a significant association with utilization of youth reproductive health services.

Keywords

Youth Reproductive Health, Utilization, Ethiopia

Share and Cite:

Abebe, M. and Awoke, W. (2014) Utilization of Youth Reproductive Health Services and Associated Factors among High School Students in Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Open Journal of Epidemiology, 4, 69-75. doi: 10.4236/ojepi.2014.42012.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	WHO (1999) Programming for Adolescent Health and Development Report of WHO/UNFPA/UNICEF Study Group on Programming for Adolescents Health. WHO, Geneva.
[2]	Malleshappa1, K., Shivaram, K. and Nandini, C. (2011) Knowledge and Attitude about Reproductive Health among Rural Adolescent Girls in Kuppam Mandal: An Intervention Study. Biomedical Research, 22, 305-310.
[3]	Hughes, J. and McCauley, A.P. (1998) Improving the Fit: Adolescents’ Needs and Future Programs for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Developing Countries. Studies in Family Planning, 29, 233-245.
[4]	UNFPA (1998) Sexual and Reproductive Health of Adolescents: A Review of UNFPA Assistance. Technical Report No. 48.
[5]	Ethiopia Federal Ministry of Health (2006) National Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health Strategy. http://phe-ethiopia.org/resadmin/index.php?news=60
[6]	Fantahun, M. and Degu, G. (2003) Health Service Utilization in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 17, 141-147.
[7]	Ministry of Health (2006) Reproductive Health Needs and Youth Friendly Health Service Assessment in Selected Urban Areas of the Oromia, Amhara, Southern Nations and People and Tigray Regional States.
[8]	(2012) Bahir Dar City Administration Education Bureau. 2012 Annual Report (Unpublished).
[9]	Berhane, F., Berhane, Y. and Fantahun, M. (2005) Adolescents’ Health Service Utilization Pattern and Preferences: Consultation for Reproductive Health Problems and Mental Stress Are Less Likely. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 19, 29-36.
[10]	Tegegn, A. and Gelaw, Y. (2009) Adolscent Reproductive Health Service Accessibility and Utilization in Jimma City Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 19, 91-100.
[11]	Motuma, A. (2012) Youth-friendly Health Services Utilization and Factors in Harar, Ethiopia. Harar Bulletin of Health Sciences, 4, 15-21.
[12]	Abajobir, A. and Seme, A. (2013) Reproductive Health Knowledge and Services Utilization among Rural Adolescents in Machakal District, Northwest Ethiopia. Asian Journal of Pharmacy, 1, 27-36.
[13]	Andersen, R.M. (1995) Revisiting the Behavioral Model and Access to Medical Care: Does It Matter? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2137284
[14]	Worku, S. and Fantahun, M. (2006) Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in a Town with Accessible Family Planning Services: The Case of Harar in Eastern Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 20, 79-83.