Factors Influencing the Utilization of Adolescent Health Care Services Among Senior High School Students in Sunyani West District

Abstract

Background Adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood which encompasses both cognitive and physical development of an individual. During this critical period of growth, individuals are mostly faced with emotional and physical challenges which pose risks to their health and general wellbeing. Most often risky sexual behaviors and risky lifestyles are learned at this stage of life. Therefore, the study sought to explore the factors influencing the utilization of adolescent health care services among adolescents age 15-19. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sunyani West District among Senior High School (SHS) students aged 15-19 years. With the use of a structured questionnaire, students were guided to respond to questions. A total of 286 participants were used. Chi-square test was used to test significant associations between utilization and categorical independent variables of interests. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was further carried out to determine factors that are independently associated with utilization. P-value below 5% was used to declare statistical significance. Results There was a moderate 43.2% awareness level of adolescent health care services among Senior High School Students aged 15-19 years in the Sunyani West District. However, the utilization of these services for the past 12 months was low (22.0%). The most common source of information for the services were school (47%), health care provider (33.1%) and friends (24.2%). Services often utilized by adolescents were counselling and information on reproductive health issues (85.7%), family planning and contraceptive services (14.3%), STI testing and treatment (12.7%). Little over forty percent (40.36%) of the respondents who did not utilize the service in the past one year felt they had no reason to use the services. The remaining proportion (59.64%) had a reason to use the service but were constrained by factors such as family (18.92%), cost of services (18.47%) and health care provider characteristics (17.47%). The major factors influencing utilization of adolescent health care services from the respondents’ perspective were parental decision (40.9%) and influence from friends (38.1%). Females (OR= 2.88) were more likely to utilize adolescent health care services as compared to males. However, adolescents who were not sexually active were also less (OR= 0.28) likely to utilize the services. Conclusions Utilization of adolescent health care services is low in this study even though the awareness level is quite moderate. This depicts that awareness creation alone does not translate to utilization. Therefore, there is the need to address the mitigation factors and enhance the facilitators to utilization in order to bridge the gap for a successful adolescent health care program. Key words Adolescents, Utilization, Awareness, Reproductive Health