Reproductive System & Sexual Disorders: Current Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-038X
ISSN: 2161-038X
Helee Rafiq Choudhury
EPOS Health Management, Bangladesh
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Reprod Syst Sex Disord
Objective: Study focuses on the improvement of sexual reproductive health (SRH) services provided within the Narayanganj City Corporation in Bangladesh. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional design and used both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. Findings: A total of 911 adolescents were interviewed. Majority (55.9%) were from the age-group 14-16 years. 35.5% were found to be working. Less than a quarter of the adolescents were able to identify the common physical changes that occur during puberty. Only 21.2% of boys and 38.1% of girls had heard about contraceptives. 17.3% of boys and 11.3% of girls claimed to have ever seen a condom. 81.2% were aware of the legal age of marriage for females. 52.5% were aware of the potential risk to the life of young pregnant girls and their babies if married off at an early age. 58.2% of adolescents had heard about HIV/AIDS and most of them were aware of the ways of HIV transmission. At the same time, 25.6% had misconceptions related to HIV transmission. Only 2.4% heard of STIs. Most of the adolescents showed positive attitudes towards sexuality and expressed the view that both married and unmarried adolescents need to know about SRH in order to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and STIs including HIV/AIDS. 94.3% of the girl had experienced menstruation; most of them used cloth for menstrual protection which they washed with soap and water and then dried inside the room. Among the boys, 63.3% had ever experienced a wet dream. Gatekeepers demonstrated that most had misperceptions about adolescents��? SRH, although almost all gave the subject much importance. Conclusions: The study revealed that majority of the adolescents in the study area did not have adequate knowledge related to SRH.
Email: heleechy@gmail.com