Youth Friendly Reproductive Health Services Among Students of Mizan-Tepi University, South-western Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Youth friendly reproductive health services are designed to entertain the unique needs of youth. Nevertheless, in developing countries like Ethiopia, knowledge, attitude and utilization of these services is very limited. This study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and the extent of utilization of youth friendly reproductive health services (YFRHS) and associated factors among students of Mizan-Tepi University, Southwestern, Ethiopia. Method: A public University-based cross-sectional study was conducted between October and January 2019. Simple random sampling technique was used to select participants from target population. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square test and logistic regression model were employed to identify the factors associated with YFRHS. Result: The results of descriptive analysis showed that about 55.4% of participants had no knowledge, 40.2% had negative attitudes and 61.2% had not practiced YFRHS. Majority 258(60.30%) of the respondents were females and 209(48.80%) were in the age group of 21-22 years. Most of the respondents lack basic information and knowledge, and have no any YFRHS in their surroundings 220(51.4%). Out of the 428 respondents, 57.9%, 59.3%, and 36.4% had never been practiced services related to VCT, family planning and contraception and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), respectively. The multivariable binary logistic regression result revealed that sex, age, religion, mother’s and father’s educational background, availability of YFRHS in the area and source of information had statistical significant effect on the knowledge, attitude and practices of students toward YFRHS. Male students were more likely to have knowledge and practicing experiences (OR = 1.847, p-value =0.015) and (OR=1.821, p-value = 0.017) respectively, however they had less likely positive attitudes (OR=0.519, p-value = 0.010) compared to their counterpart females. Students from primary and above educated mothers and fathers were more likely to have knowledge, attitude and practicing experience compared to students from uneducated mothers and fathers. Conclusion: The overall utilization, attitude and knowledge of YFRHS among study respondents’ are lower and therefore, further efforts like availability of YFRHS providers and improvement of facility, and education related to the service to all young groups and allocation of appropriate time of services is essential.

Utilization of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Experience among Mizan-Tepi University Students in Southwestern Ethiopia

“…In this study, of all participants, only 42.5% experienced the voluntary counseling and testing services. is result is almost similar to the study conducted in the same area prior to this study [28,29] [30]. However, this result is lower than the prevalence of VCT utilization study conducted in the Debre Markos University by 58.5% [27] and the study done in the Northwestern parts among the university students by 61.8% [31].…”

“…In this study, of all participants, only 42.5% experienced the voluntary counseling and testing services. This result is almost similar to the study conducted in the same area prior to this study [ 28 , 29 ], higher than the prevalence of VCT utilization study conducted in the West Gojjam Merawi Preparatory school Ethiopia by 31.5% [ 1 ], Debre Birhan students training College by 35.19% [ 17 ], Bahir Dar University by 37.8% [ 16 ], and Addis Ababa University by 38.6% [ 30 ]. However, this result is lower than the prevalence of VCT utilization study conducted in the Debre Markos University by 58.5% [ 27 ] and the study done in the Northwestern parts among the university students by 61.8% [ 31 ].…”

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice toward Youth-Friendly Reproductive Health Services among Mizan-Tepi University Students, South-Western Ethiopia

“…This manuscript has been submitted as a preprint in Research Square (https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-96017/v1) [ 36 ].…”

Historical analysis of animal diseases: Nagana in Southwestern Ethiopia, Gambella.

“…The Anuak are also among the ethnic group who live in Gambella (Zewudie, 1976). Based on oral sources from Udiek on the Akobo and Ulan on the Gila, Prichard (1940) wrote that the Anuak arrived at the Baro salient from the southwest of present-day Anuak land.…”