Awareness and Utilization of Contraceptives among in-School Adolescents in Adaklu District in Volta Region, Ghana

Abstract

Background: A lot of efforts and measures are being put in place by many countries to increase knowledge and access to contraception among women of reproductive age, especially among adolescents. Though in many sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana, the knowledge of contraceptives is high, this does not seem to translate into utilization. Though contraceptives uptake among adolescents in the Adaklu district is not encouraging coupled with the high numbers of teenage pregnancies, few studies have been conducted to examine the factors that may be at play. The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness and utilization of contraceptives among in-school adolescents in the Adaklu district. The design employed to collect the data was a cross-sectional survey with a structured closed ended questionnaire. This was used to assess in-school adolescents’ awareness and uptake of modern contraceptives.. Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess awareness and factors associated with the utilization of modern contraceptives among in-school adolescents. Methods: The study employed the cross-sectional design which used quantitative methods to assess the level of awareness and the factors associated with contraceptive utilization among in school adolescents. A structured questionnaire was administered to participants as a data collection tool. A total of 396 in school adolescent students in both the basic and senior high schools within the district were interviewed. Frequencies, proportions and means were used for univariate analysis. Chi square and Fisher’s exact test were used for tests for association. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test the strength of the association between the dependent and independent variables. In all the analysis p< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Three hundred and ninety-six students took part in the study. Out of the 396 students, 84.1% were aware of modern contraceptives. The major sources of awareness were teachers ( 79.3 %) and the media (73.9%). , Out of the 333 sexually active adolescents, 42.3% had ever used a contraceptive method. Some of the reasons for non-usage stemmed from the notion that contraceptive use makes women promiscuous (55.4%), parent or guardian does not offer education on contraceptives (55.5%), and lack of accessibility to contraceptives (51.1%). Factors that were found to be associated with contraceptive use were age, contraceptive accessibility , source of awareness of contraceptives. Conclusion: Awareness levels of modern contraceptives among adolescents was appreciably high. However, a lack of parental/guardian education and support was responsible for the low levels of utilization. Parents/guardians should take up the responsibility of educating and encouraging their wards on modern contraceptive use. The Ministries of Health and Education, together with Ghana Health Service, should collaborate and ensure that modern contraceptives are made easily accessible to all sexually active adolescents.