Knowledge, attitudes and practice of healthcare providers regarding contraceptive use in adolescence in Mahalapye, Botswana

Abstract

Adolescent pregnancy is a global public health problem, for which healthcare providers (HCPs) play a critical role to prevent unintended pregnancy. This study investigated the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of HCPs towards the use of contraceptives in adolescents. Results: Of the 101 eligible for the study, 79.2% HCPs from the selected clinics and hospital responded. The majority (91.2%) of respondents felt confident to explain to adolescents how to use old contraceptive methods such as oral contraceptives or IUCD, less than half of the respondents (41.3%) were confident to explain how to use new contraceptive methods such as transdermal contraceptive patches or vaginal rings. Medical doctors felt more confident to prescribe new contraceptive methods compared with nurses, both vaginal rings (p-value = 0.0006) and transdermal contraceptive patches (p-value = 0.0003). More than two-thirds of the respondents disagreed that beliefs influenced their ability to offer contraceptive services to adolescents, half of the respondents strongly disagreed that it was morally wrong for adolescents to use contraceptives. Although three-quarters of respondents strongly agreed (median = 5, [IQR 5-6]) that they were comfortable with prescribing contraceptives to adolescents, only 23% of the respondents very much prescribed or always prescribed contraceptives to adolescents. Conclusion: Most of the HCPs prescribed contraceptives irregularly, and had limited knowledge about newer methods. To change HCPs' KAP, in addition to continuing medical education (CME), the establishment of family planning clinics for adolescents and more undergraduate contraceptive teaching for medical and nursing students could result in the increased utilisation of contraceptive services by adolescents.

Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods among healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…From the studies published between 2000 and 2019, a total of 11 272 participants were included in this review with the sample size ranging from 31 to 2 377. and perceptions of HCW's by ten studies (34,(37)(38)(39)(40)46,51,53,54,56,57). A detailed summary of the study characteristics is outlined in Table 2 and Table 3 presents the characteristics of the HCWs included in each study.…”

“…Using the quality assessment tool designed specifically for KAP studies, a total score out of was assigned to each study (27). Eight studies (32)(33)(34)42,45,47,49,53) scored at least 15 or higher indicating good quality and eleven (35)(36)(37)41,43,44,46,48,(50)(51)(52) scored 14 or less indicating low quality. The three studies (38)(39)(40) that utilised a mixed-method study design were indicative of good quality.…”

“…Eleven studies provided information on injectable contraceptives (34,37-40,45-47,51,53,54), 21 on IUCD (33-45,47,48,50-55), and nine on the contraceptive implant(34,(38)(39)(40)46,47,51,53,55). Additionally, knowledge was reported by 15 studies(33,35,36,38,39,(41)(42)(43)(44)(48)(49)(50)(52)(53)(54), attitudes by 14(35,36,(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(48)(49)(50)53,54) …”

Male partners and medical staff's perception on contributing factors of Family Planning (FP) in Fiji

“…The importance of medical staff cannot be further emphasized as they play a vital role in FP by disseminating pertinent information pertaining to the women and ensure that they get the best advice possible ( Kohan et al., 2014 ; Tshitenge et al., 2018 ). It was noted that the level of knowledge and attitude toward FP was relatively low and FP utilization was quite low among the healthcare workers ( Wani et al., 2019 ).…”

Assessment of Policies, Laws, and Regulations Affecting the Contraceptive Needs of Adolescents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…However, the latest available data indicate that access to and uptake of contraceptive methods by adolescent girls remains low and unmet needs increasing [23]. Outside barriers are the lack of knowledge [24] [25], the misinformation and myths about contraception [26], the provider bias against the demand of the FP by adolescents [27] [28], and the financial barriers [29]. In the DRC, more than one uncoordinated specific health programs (SHP) are involved in the organization of the FP for adolescents [22] [30].…”