Sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent girls from conservative and low-income families in Erzurum, Turkey
Nesrin Reis, Dilek Kilic, Raziye Engin, Ozlem Karabulutlu
DOI: 10.4236/health.2011.36063   PDF    HTML     6,214 Downloads   12,055 Views   Citations

Abstract

The objective of this survey was to determine the sexual and reproductive health needs of conservative and/or economically challenged adolescent girls. A total of 310 subjects (16.5 ± 2.2 years old), attending three private institutes teaching Islamic matter and the holy Quran and two private institutes teaching carpet-weaving in Erzurum, Turkey, were interviewed between November 2004 and February 2005. The ques-tionnaire covered knowledge on reproductive health and sexual matters to attain their feelings prior to their first menarche, their practices during menstruation, and their awareness of gynecological and sexually transmitted dis-eases as well as their attitudes toward and re-sponsiveness to domestic violence. Their re-sponses showed that these issues were con-sidered taboo and/or embarrassing to share. Also, a considerable percentage of the girls had no or limited knowledge on reproductive health and sexual matters and mismanaged gyneco-logical problems and domestic violence. More-over, those had knowledge revealed that their sources were non-scientific information from unprofessional individuals. In conclusion, the conservative and/or economically challenged adolescent girls who are not attending regular high schools need professional lectures on re-productive health and sexual matters.

Share and Cite:

Reis, N. , Kilic, D. , Engin, R. and Karabulutlu, O. (2011) Sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent girls from conservative and low-income families in Erzurum, Turkey. Health, 3, 370-377. doi: 10.4236/health.2011.36063.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Gubhaju, B.B. (2002) Adolescent reproductive health in Asia. IUSSP Regional Population Conference, “South- East Asia’s Population in a Changing Asian Context”. Bangkok, Thailand.10-13 June 2002.
[2] Rani, M. and Lule, E. (2004) Exploring the socioeconomic dimension of adolescent reproductive health: A multicountry analysis. International Family Planning Perspectives, 30, 110-117. doi:10.1363/3011004
[3] Woynarowska, B., Malkowska, A. and Tabak, I. (2006) Sexual behaviour among adolescents aged 16 - 18 years in Poland in 2005. Ginekologia Polska, 77, 667-677.
[4] Miles, K., Shaw, M., Paine, K., Hart, G.J. and Ceesay, S. (2001) Sexual health seeking behaviours of young people in the Gambia. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 753-764. doi:10.1006/jado.2001.0442
[5] The World Bank. (2010) The World Bank’s Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010-2015. http://reliefweb.int/node/ 25364
[6] Ali, M., Bhatti, M.A. and Ushijima, H. (2004) Reproductive health needs of adolescent males in rural Pakistan: An exploratory study. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 204, 17-25. doi:10.1620/tjem.204.17
[7] Warenius, L.U., Faxelid, E.A., Chishimba, P.N., Musan- du, J.O., Ong’any, A.A. and Nissen E.B.M. (2006) Nurse-Midwives’ attitudes towards adolescent sexual and reproductive health needs in Kenya and Zambia. Reproductive Health Matters, 14, 119-128. doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(06)27242-2
[8] Omar, H. (2006) Reproductive care for adolescents with disability: where should they get it? Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 19, 109-115. doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2006.01.007
[9] Bearinger, L.H., Sieving, R.E., Ferguson, J. and Sharma, V. (2007) Global perspectives on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents: patterns, prevention, and potential. Lancet, 369, 1220-1231. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60367-5
[10] Etuk, S.J., Ihejiamaizu, E.C. and Etuk, I.S. (2004) Female adolescent sexual behaviour in Calabar, Nigeria. The Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal, 11, 269- 273.
[11] Avery, L. and Lazdane, G. (2010) What do we know about sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in Europe. European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care, 15, 54-66. doi:10.3109/13625187.2010.533007
[12] Eleanor, M.T. (2008) Sexuality and sexual health of Canadian adolescents: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 17, 85-95.
[13] Fronteira, I., Oliveira da Silva, M., Unzeitig, V., Karro, H. and Temmerman, M. (2009) Sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Portugal. European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care, 14, 215-220. doi:10.1080/13625180902894524
[14] Rademakers, J., Mouthaan, I., de Neef, M. (2005) Diversity in sexual health: Problems and dilemmas. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care, 10, 207-211. doi:10.1080/13625180500279847
[15] Singh, S., Darroch, J.E., Frost, J.J. (2001) Socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent women’s sexual and reproductive behavior: The case of five developed countries. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 33, 251-258.
[16] Bearinger, L.H., Sieving, R.E., Ferguson, J. and Sharma, V. (2007) Global perspectives on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents: patterns, prevention and potential. The Lancet, 369, 1220-1231. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60367-5
[17] Roswith, R. (2003) Sexual and reproductive life of women: Gender equality in women’s reproductive health in Western Europe and the US. Cross Cultural Issues in Women’s Health, 45, 123-143.
[18] Kumar, R., Raizada, A., Aggarwal, A.K. and Kaur, M. (2000) Adolescent behaviour regarding reproductive health. Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 67, 877-882. doi:10.1007/BF02723949
[19] Katz, K. and Nare, C. (2002) Reproductive health know- ledge and use of services among young adults in Dakar, Senegal. Journal of Biosocial Science, 34, 215-231. doi:10.1017/S0021932002002158
[20] Mbonye, A.K. (2003) Disease and health seeking patterns among adolescents in Uganda. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 15, 105-112. doi:10.1515/IJAMH.2003.15.2.105
[21] Adjahoto, E.O., Hodonou, K.A., de Souza, A.D., Tete, V.K. and Baete, S. (2000) Teenage knowledge about sex. Sante, 10, 195-199.
[22] Kapamadzija, A., Bjelica, A. and Segedi, D. (2000) Sex knowledge and behavior in Male high school students. Medicinski Pregled, 53, 595-599.
[23] Zhang, L., Gao, X., Dong, Z., Tan, Y. and Wu, Z. (2002) Premarital sexual activities among students in a university in Beijing, China. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 29, 212-215. doi:10.1097/00007435-200204000-00005
[24] Leite-Ida, C., Rodrigues-Rdo, N. and Fonseca-Mdo, C. (2004) Factors associated with sexual and reproductive behavior among adolescents from the Northeast and Southeast regions of Brazil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 20, 474-81.
[25] De Jong, J., Jawad, R., Mortagy, I. and, Shepard, B. (2005) The sexual and reproductive health of young people in the Arab countries and Iran. Reproductive Health Matters, 13, 49-59. doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(05)25181-9
[26] Franzini, L., Marks, E., Cromwell, P.F., Risser, J., McGill, L., Markham, C., Selwyn, B. and Shapiro, C. (2004) Projected economic costs due to health consequences of teenagers’ loss of confidentiality in obtaining reproductive health care services in Texas. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 158, 1140-1146. doi:10.1001/archpedi.158.12.1140
[27] Hobcraft, G. and Baker, T. (2006) Special needs of adolescent and young women in accessing reproductive health: Promoting partnerships between young people and health care providers. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 94, 350-356. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2006.04.024
[28] Valvano, T.J. (2009) Legal issues in sexual and reproductive health care for adolescents. Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 10, 60-65. doi:10.1016/j.cpem.2009.01.004
[29] Brieger, W.R., Delano, G.E., Lane, C.G., Oladepo, O. and Oyediran, K.A. (2001) West African Youth Initiative: Outcome of a reproductive health education program. Journal of Adolescent Health, 29, 436-446.| doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(01)00264-6
[30] Magnani, R.J., Karim, A.M., Weiss, LA., Bond, K.C., Lemba, M. and Morgan, G.T. (2002) Reproductive health risk and protective factors among young in Lusaka, Zambia. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 30, 76-86. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(01)00328-7
[31] Ackard, D.M. and Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2002) Date violence and date rape among adolescents: Associations with disordered eating behaviors and psychological health. Child Abuse & Neglect, 26, 455-473. doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(02)00322-8
[32] Ackard, D.M., Neumark-Sztainer, D. and Hannan, P. (2003) Dating violence among a nationally representative sample of adolescent girls and boys: associations with behavioral and mental health. The Journal of Gender Specific Medicine, 6, 39-48.
[33] Ackard, D.M., Eisenberg, M.E. and Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2007) Long-term impact of adolescent dating violence on the behavioral and psychological health of male and female youth. The Journal of Pediatrics, 151, 476-481. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.04.034
[34] Silverman, J.G., Raj, A., Mucci, L.A. and Hathaway, J.E. (2001) Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy, and suicidality. The Journal of American Medical Association, 286, 572-579. doi:10.1001/jama.286.5.572

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.