Youth friendly reproductive health service utilization and its associated factors among secondary school students, East Belesa district, northwest, Ethiopia, 2022

Abstract

Background Youths are people aged between 15 and 24 years. Globally, there were 37.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and 90% occur among youths. Despite enormous efforts made in Ethiopia to improve the reproductive health of the youth the utilization is still low. There is no study conducted on YFRHS utilization and associated factors among youths in East Belesa. Therefore, this study is aimed to assess YFRHS utilization and its associated factors among secondary school youths in East Belesa district. Objective To assess the prevalence of youth friendly reproductive health service utilization and associated factors among secondary school students in East Belesa district, Ethiopia, 2022. Method Institution based cross-sectional study design was used with a total sample size of 347 youths in East Belesa schools from May 23 to June 12, 2022. Stratified simple random sampling was employed. Data were entered using EpiData and analyzed using Stata version 14. Descriptive statistics and Logistic regression were done to describe and identify factors associated with reproductive health services utilization. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered to declare a level of significance. Results A total of 346 students participated in the study with a response rate of 99.8%.the magnitude of youth friendly reproductive health service utilization was 28.9% (24.3, 33.9). Being married (AOR = 0.27, 95%CI: 0.14, 0.52), mothers attended higher education (AOR = 1.40, 95%CI: 1.87, 4.95), availability (AOR = 2.58. 95%CI: 1.29, 5.16) and students who had never discussed about reproductive issues with their families (AOR = 0.18, 95%CI: 0.07, 0.49) were significantly associated with youth friendly service utilization. Therefore, behavior change communication interventions targeted at advancing mothers’ knowledge, encouraging open discussion between parents and children, and enhancing the availability of youth friendly services are important to enhance youth friendly service utilization.

Youths with disabilities: Utilization and predictors of Youths Friendly Reproductive Health Services in Dessie City Administration, North East Ethiopia, 2021: A cross‐sectional study

“…The research was conducted in Dessie, which is located 401 km from Addis Ababa. In 2016, the entire population was 311,724 people, according to the city administration, and 87,904 of those 87,904 are youngsters aged [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]…”

“…In addition, there are no similar studies in Ethiopia or globally that assess the utilization of YFRHS among disabled youths. This is insufficient to completely recognize and explore utilization and predictors of youth‐friendly reproductive services among youths with disabilities 8–15 …”

“…This is insufficient to completely recognize and explore utilization and predictors of youth-friendly reproductive services among youths with disabilities. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The clinical statement of the study's findings is that youth access to reproductive health services is essential for addressing the SRH needs of young people with disabilities, who are more vulnerable to a variety of barriers and disadvantages when trying to get high-quality care. In the study, factors such as youths in the age range of 20-24 years, disabled youths who live alone, disabled youths who have a visual impairment, and disabled youths with poor knowledge are identified as significant predictors.…”

Factors associated with voluntary HIV counseling and testing among young students engaging in casual sexual activity: a cross-sectional study from Eastern China

“…The phrase “young people” encompasses individuals between 15 and 24 years of age. Globally, approximately 37.7 million individuals live with HIV/AIDS, approximately 90% of whom are young adults [ 10 ]. In 2017, the number of newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection among Chinese university students was more than ten times higher than in 2006, with 3077 cases reported in 2017 compared to 242 cases in 2006, and the annual growth rate during this period ranged from 30 to 50% [ 9 ].…”

Factors influencing the utilisation of Youth Friendly Health Services in Blantyre, Malawi

“…Studies conducted in Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya have also highlighted underutilisation of YFHSs (Amaje et al 2022 ; Asare, Aryee & Koto 2020 ; Embleton et al 2023 ; Habtu, Kaba & Mekonnen 2021 ; Sertsu et al 2023 ; Tsegaw, Kassie & Alemnew 2023 ). Embarrassment in seeking contraceptive services, unfriendliness, judgemental provision of care and lack of confidentiality contributed to young people preferring to utilise providers such as local pharmacies that offer faster and more discreet services than public clinics despite lacking a more comprehensive range of contraceptives (Radovich et al 2018 ).…”