A Study Of Reproductive Health Needs Of Adolescent Girls Of UHTC Field Practice Area, Govt. Medical College, Bhavnagar
A Study Of Reproductive Health Needs Of Adolescent Girls
Keywords:
Adolescent Girls, Adolescent Friendly Health Services, Reproductive HealthAbstract
10-19 years of ageâ€. As adolescents are not a homogenous group, their needs vary with their sex, stage of development, life circumstances & their socioeconomic conditions. Inspite of existing Adolescent Friendly Health Services (AFHS), adolescents are reluctant to utilize them because of lack of privacy & confidentiality. Aims of this study are (1) To study reproductive health needs of adolescent girls (2) To assess awareness & utilization of AFHS. Methodology: Community based cross sectional study was conducted in Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC) field practice area of Govt. Medical College, Bhavnagar among 532 Adolescent girls during February 2014 to August 2014. Information about their reproductive health needs, awareness about AFHS & its utilization were collected by pretested prestuctured questionnaire. Data entry & analysis done in Epi info software (version3.2). Results: In the present study regarding reproductive health needs, more than half (54.71%) girls desired correct information about reproductive health system , problems & hygiene & most of the girls (53.20%) choose seminar as best source to provide such information. 21.99% girls desired supply of sanitary pads at lower cost than market. An important finding was that very few (14.1%) girls were aware of AFHS. Among those who were aware of AFHS, 38.67% girls had visited & satisfied with services. The major reason for not utilizing AFHS was shyness among 54.35% girls. Conclusion: Information about reproductive health (54.71%) & supply of sanitary pad at lower prices than market (21.99%) are two important reproductive health needs of adolescent girls. Awareness & utilization of AFHS is very less among adolescent girls due to various barriers. [Chauhan M NJIRM 2015; 6(6):15-18]
References
2. Adolescent friendly health services. An Agenda for Change WHO 2002
3. Strategic directions for improving Adolescent Health in South-East Asia Region World Health Organization 2011
4. Kishore J. ,National Health Programmes of India 9th edition New Delhi: Century Publications pp: 176
5. Orientation programme for ANMs/LHVs to provide Adolescent-Friendly Reproductive and Sexual Health Services, IEC division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India. 6. Promoting Adolescent Health and Development in South-East Asia, Indian Journal of Community Medicine October 2011; Vol 36(Issue 4): 245-246.
7. Government of India. Labour Bureau. Statistics (internet )2013 Available from
labourbureau.nic.in/indtab.html (assessed in Feb 2014) 8. Kamaljit K, Arora B, Singh G, Neki N, Social Beliefs and Practices associated with Menstrual Hygiene among Adolescent Girls of Amritsar, Punjab, India. JIMSA April-June 2012; Vol. 25 (Issue 2): . 69-70 9. Sharma P, Malhotra C, Taneja D and Saha R Problems Related to Menstruation Amongst Adolescent Girls. Indian Journal of Pediatrics February, 2008; Volume 75: 125-129.
10. Implementation Guide on RCH II ARSH Strategy (Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health Strategy) May, 2006 11. Nath A, Garg S, Adolescent friendly health services in India: A need of the hour. Indian Journal of Medical Sciences November, 2008; Vol. 62(Issue 11): 465-472.
12. Kennedy et al “be kind to Young people so they feel at home “ A qualitative study of adolescents & service providers’ perception of youth friendly sexual & reproductive health services in Vanuatu, BMC health services research 2013, 13:455
13. Abajobir A, Semme A, Reproductive health knowledge & service utilization among rural adolescents in east gojjam zone , Ethiopia, a community based cross sectional study, BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:138 14. Joshi B, Chauhan S,Donde U, Tryambake V, Gaikwad N, Bhadoria V Reproductive Health Problems and Help Seeking Behavior Among Adolescents in Urban India. Indian Journal of Pediatrics June, 2006 ; Volume 73: 509-513
15. Mehra S, Sogarwal R, Chandra M. Integrating adolescent-friendly health services into the public health system: an experience from rural India. . HWHO South-East Asia J Public Health 2013; Vol. ; 2(3-4): 165–173.
