Utilization of contraceptive methods among secondary school female adolescents at a selected secondary school in Rwamagana district,Rwanda.

Abstract

Introduction: adolescent pregnancy has been a global health concern especially in developing countries. Early marriage and adolescentage pregnancy is a public health concern in some of the countries in the region where more than a quarter (27%) of adolescent (10-19 years old) deaths in the world (1.3 million) occurred in the South-East Asia Region of WHO owing to early marriage and adolescent pregnancy. In Rwanda, adolescent pregnancy is as high as 7.3%. This study aimed to assess the utilization of contraception among high school female adolescent at a selected secondary school in Rwamagana district. Methods: a non-experimental, descriptive cross-sectional study design was used in this study. A total population sampling technique was used to recruit study respondents. Data were collected from 117 adolescent girls from a selected secondary school of Rwamagana community and analysis was done using SPSS Version 23. Results from univariate and bivariate analysis are presented in tables and figures in Microsoft Office Word. Results: The majority of the respondents had heard about methods of contraception (88%) however, contraceptive use was as low as 39% among sexually active high school female adolescents. Factors like education, (OR=1.542, P=0.038) parents approval of contraception (OR=0.342, P= 0.023), discussing the use of contraception with others (OR=0.342, P= 0.014) and avoiding pregnancy (OR=2.343, P=0.002) were significant predictors of contraceptive use among female adolescent students. Major reasons why adolescents do not use contraception include lack of knowledge (47.9%), fear of contraceptive side effects (47%), the attitude of teachers (45.8%), religious beliefs (44.4%) and attitude of contraceptive providers (42.7%) were also revealed by the study participants. Conclusion: despite high knowledge of contraceptives (88%), the study showed that the utilization of contraceptives among sexually active high school female adolescent is still low (39%). There is a need to enhance sex education,youth-friendly health services, and research to improve female high school adolescent use of contraception and provide better services to them in general.