Effectiveness of Peer-Led Intervention on KAP Related to Sexual Reproductive and Mental Health Issues among Adolescents in Low Resource Settings India: A Comparative Study among Participants and Non-Participants

Abstract

Background: India being the country with largest adolescent population in the world, needs a special focus on the health services as the status of an adolescent determines the health status in his/her adulthood. Some of the major issues faced by the adolescents include: mental health problems, early pregnancy and childbirth, (HIV/STI) and other infectious diseases, violence, injuries and malnutrition. The present study aims to understand the effectiveness of peer-led intervention on knowledge, attitude and practices related to sexual reproductive and mental health issues in adolescents among participants and non-participants. The study was carried out to improve the health-seeking behaviour of adolescents on sexual reproductive and mental health issues in low resource setting across four states in India. Methods: The study adopted a cross-sectional survey which was conducted on 400 adolescents from each of the four districts namely Bangalore, Khagaria-Bihar, Khed-Pune and Sahinganj-Jharkhand. A comparative analysis was conducted between the participants and the non-participants of the intervention to understand the effectiveness of the intervention on the KAP related to sexual reproductive and mental health of adolescents. Results: The study shows that the participants from Karnataka and Maharashtra had better knowledge in emergency contraception, HIV awareness, use of contraceptives and consumption of IFA's than How to cite this paper: