Sexual and reproductive health knowledge, attitude and behaviours of in-school adolescents in Benin City, Nigeria
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Keywords

Adolescents, sexual and reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections, risky sexual behaviour

How to Cite

Isara, A. R., & Nwaogwugwu, J. C. (2022). Sexual and reproductive health knowledge, attitude and behaviours of in-school adolescents in Benin City, Nigeria. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 25(2), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajbr.v25i2.2

Abstract

Knowledge of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and access to accurate information on it among adolescents remains a major challenge in Nigeria. This study assessed the SRH knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of in-school adolescents in Benin City, Nigeria. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 630 adolescents in Benin City. The respondents were selected using multi staged sampling technique. An adapted interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS version 25.0 software. The mean age of the adolescents comprising 328 (52.1%) females and 302 (47.9%) males was 14.9 ± 1.3 years. Although 561 (89.0%) adolescents were aware of SRH, only 107 (19.1%) had good knowledge of it. Most of them 587 (93.2%) demonstrated positive attitude towards SRH. Thirty-nine (6.2%) were sexually active with 30 (76.9%) having their sexual debut before the age of 15 years, 14 (35.9%) had more than one sexual partner while only 13 (39.4%) consistently used condom during sexual intercourse. Seventeen (43.6%) had experienced vaginal/penile discharge, 6 (15.4%) had been tested for STIs, 25 (64.1%) had received treatment for STIs with home treatment 16 (64.0%) being the predominant choice. This study revealed that the overall knowledge of SRH among in-school adolescents in Benin City was poor, but most of them displayed a positive towards SRH. Although only few of the adolescents were sexually active, the prevalence of risky sexual behaviour was high among them and they also exhibit poor SRH seeking behaviour.

https://doi.org/10.4314/ajbr.v25i2.2
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