Modern Contraceptive Use Among in- School Adolescents in The La – Nkwantanang Madina Municipality

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent pregnancy has multiple adverse effect on the adolescent, family and community. This has led to a growing interest on contraceptive use by sexually active adolescents. Objective: The objective of this study was to assesss knowledge on modern contraceptives, prevalence and factors that influence modern contraceptive use among in-school adolescents. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using self- administered questionnaires. Three hundred and ninety in-school adolescents aged 12-19 were selected from two Junior High and two senior High schools for the study using random sampling method.The statistical soft ware SPSS version 21 was used for analysis. Means and standard deviation was generated for continuous variables and frequencies and percentages generated for categorical variables. Bivariate and and multivarite analysis was conducted for associations between the dependent variable and the independent variables. Results: Of the 390 respondents, only 155 were sexually active. Knowledge on modern contraceptives was very high among respondents (98.5%), but prevalence was 46.5%. Factors that were found to be associated with current use of modern contraceptives were mothers’ educational level, condom use for first sexual intercourse, contraceptive use for last sex with partner and number of lifetime sexual partners. Conclusion: Modern contraceptive knowledge among adolescents is almost universal but use is not encouraging. Consistent use of contraceptives among adolescents is very poor(15%) Key words Adolescents, sexually active, modern contraceptives