Reproductive health service use and associated factors among youths in Becho district, southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundYoung people are less informed, less experienced, and less at ease when it comes to accessing reproductive health services than adults. Though youth-friendly services are designed to accommodate the unique needs of youth, in developing countries like Ethiopia, studies on the level of utilization of reproductive health services are limited.ObjectivesThis study determined the level of reproductive health (RH) service use and associated factors among youths.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Becho district, Illubabor zone, southwest Ethiopia. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 702 youths, regardless of their marital status. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire includes questions on socio-demographic characteristics, sexual and reproductive health characteristics, knowledge, and components of RH assessment. The data was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the utilization of reproductive health services at a p < 0.05.ResultsA total of 647 youths participated in the study, constituting a response rate of 92.1%. Male youths made up 51.5% of the respondents, with an average (±SD) age of 19.38 (±2.69) years. Reproductive health (RH) services were utilized by 43.9% of youths. Knowledge of RH services (AOR = 4.11; 95% CI: 2.77, 6.09), discussion with family (AOR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.45), history of sexual exposure (AOR = 2.94; 95% CI: 1.95, 4.43), shorter distance from a health facility (AOR = 2.42; 95% CI: 1.63, 3.57), and history of reproductive health problems (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.34, 4.31) were associated with RH service utilization.ConclusionThe use of reproductive health services among youths is found to be low. Knowledge about reproductive health services, discussion with parents, sexual exposure, distance, and previous experience with reproductive health problems shaped the utilization of RH services by youth. Improving knowledge through information dissemination, creating awareness to increase parent-child intimacy, and expanding health services should be emphasized.

Utilization of reproductive health services among undergraduate regular class students in Assosa University, BGRS: a comparison among three varieties of multilevel binary logistic regression models

“…The findings from this study emphasize the crucial of using a two-level random slope model to model the determinant of RHS utilization among Assosa University regular class students. In line with previous study, this study revealed that the covariates; student’s awareness about RHS, gender, preference of service fees and student’s monthly average income were significant predictor variables of RHS utilization [ 8 , 30 – 32 ]. In this study findings, students who; preferred service fee as usual rate, have awareness about RHS, are females and have high monthly average income were more likely to utilize RHS.…”

“…Indirectly, this findings support the findings of present study in the way that students with high monthly average income are more likely to have access to RHS and to be afford of the cost for these services. According to [ 30 – 32 , 38 ] study findings, students who were aware of RHS were more likely than those who were not to make use of these services. This is also another consistent result from the present study finding.…”

Adolescent utilization of sexual and reproductive health services in Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Insights from multilevel and latent class analysis

“…This creates large gaps in knowledge across multiple generations because experiences are not passed down through the family line ( 40 , 66 ). To foster responsiveness among adolescents, it is overbearing to embrace change and establish consensus within families regarding the open discussion of SRH issues ( 67 ). Thus, bridging the gap within the family on SRH issues will improve the sustainability of positive changes and the transmission of accumulated experiences.…”