RESEARCH ARTICLE


Reproductive Health Choices Among Adolescents in Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Selected Schools in Limpopo, South Africa



Netshikweta ML1, Olaniyi FC2, *, Tshitangano TG2
1 Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
2 Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
3
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 1014
Abstract HTML Views: 387
PDF Downloads: 248
ePub Downloads: 209
Total Views/Downloads: 1858
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 649
Abstract HTML Views: 255
PDF Downloads: 205
ePub Downloads: 179
Total Views/Downloads: 1288



Creative Commons License
© 2018 ML et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address corresponding to this author at the Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa, Tel: +27612177991; Email: foluolaniyi@yahoo.com


Abstract

Objectives:

This study was conducted to determine the knowledge, opinions and practices of female adolescents in selected secondary schools in Limpopo Province of South Africa about reproductive health issues and assess the level of parental involvement in their choices.

Materials and methods:

A quantitative, exploratory, survey design was adopted. A total of 512 learners from grades 8 (first year of secondary school) and 12 (final year) were conveniently sampled from 24 randomly selected secondary schools in Limpopo Province. Data was collected with a structured, self-administered questionnaire and analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.

Results:

Sixteen (3.9%) of the learners attained menarche at or before the early age of 8 years and 102 (29.3%) experienced sexual debut before age 14 years. More than half of grade 12 (n =84, 52.5%) and 49 (14%) of grade 8 learners were sexually active and 80% (n = 444, 86.7%) of them were unaware of contraceptives when engaging in sexual intercourse for the first time. Only 116 (22.7%) of the respondents admitted to having knowledge about contraceptives before engaging in sex for the first time and more than a third (n = 172, 33.6%) have been pregnant at least once before the study was conducted. Parental involvement in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) education was found to be low and many obtained the little information they have mainly through friends.

Conclusion:

Many adolescents are lacking in vital information regarding their SRH and some hold wrong opinions about contraception. Parents are advised to initiate and sustain discussions regarding SRH with their children to help them make informed reproductive health choices.

Keywords: Knowledge, Opinions, Reproductive health, Contraceptives, Adolescents, Parental involvement.