Assessing Current And Preferred Sources Of Information On Adolescents’ Sexual And Reproductive Health In Southeast Nigeria: Improving Adolescent Health Programming

Abstract

Background: Many adolescents lack appropriate information about their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Although there are numerous information on SRH, they vary in content and quality, and these have implications for the accuracy and appropriateness of SRH information adolescents can access. This study examined the sources of SRH information for adolescents, the value adolescents place on these sources and their significance for adolescent health programming.Method: This was a mixed methods, community-based, cross-sectional study that was conducted in six local government areas in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. Quantitative data were collected using pre-tested questionnaire that was administered to 1057 unmarried adolescents aged 13-18 years. The qualitative data were: Seventy-seven in-depth interviews (IDIs) with stakeholders; twelve (12) focus group discussions (FGDs) with adolescents; and six FGDs with village head. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed for quantitative data using Stata software while thematic framework approach was used to analyze qualitative data.Result: It was found that 60.5% and 39.8% of adolescents reported that school teachers and mothers respectively were their major sources of information about pubertal changes, while teachers (36.3%) and friends (29.8%) were the commonest sources of information on relationship with opposite sex. There were statistically significant associations between sources of information about relationships and age category (p≤0.09). Additional common sources of SRH information elicited through IDIs with adolescents include internet, social media and mass media. Although adolescents valued the information provided by teachers and parents, they preferred information on SRH from their friends/peers, social media and mass media because these sources are easy to access with a guarantee of some level of confidentiality. In the opinion of parents and other stakeholders, sources of appropriate SRH information for adolescents were health workers, teachers, parents and adult family members; whereas peers/friends and social media were considered as inappropriate sources of SRH information for adolescents.Conclusion: Efforts at addressing the need of adolescents for SRH information should be targeted at their valued and preferred sources, whilst maintaining a delicate balance with the choices and expectations of their parents and adult family members.

Effectiveness of Health Education for Teenagers in the Digital Era: A Review

“…The quality of health promotion interventions through social media is very good (26). In contrast, in Agu et al (20) research, the accuracy of the information sources must be improved.…”

“…Social media has succeeded in meeting these needs and has exceeded the expectations of millennial teenagers (22). A review of 21studies showed, 90.4% of the studies showed an increase in knowledge, attitudes, or behavior toward providing reproductive health education to adolescents, while 9.6 considered that the internet still presented a contradictory perspective and provided a cultural shift (17,20). The results showed that 85.7% of adolescents used the social media sites Facebook and Instagram, of which 71.4% and 10.7% had a good and sufficient level of knowledge, respectively (23).…”

“…The research found 21 studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, of which seven involved the government (20,26,33), community social (33), and educational institutions (27,33). The virtual world comprises various communication technologies and computer networks (sensors, transducers, connections, transmissions, processors, signals, and controllers).…”

“…Many adolescents lack basic information on reproductive and discussing this matter withtheirr parents is delicate and taboo. They only obtain information from their peers based on their personal experiences, which is often misleading (20). Therefore,appropriate promotion of amputation is required for reproductively healthy adolescents.…”