Sexual and Reproductive Health Knowledge and Behaviour among Adolescents in Rural Burkina Faso

Background: Adolescents in developing countries have limited knowledge about the prevention of STIs and unwanted pregnancies. In several African countries, risky sexual behaviour persists, including early sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, economic and sexual exchange, and low condom and contraceptive use. The purpose of this study is to assess the sexual and reproductive health knowledge and behaviour of adolescents in rural Burkina Faso in order to improve their sexual and reproductive health. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with prospective data collection conducted from 07 March to 04 April 2022 in the area of the Demographic and Health Surveillance System of the Nouna Research Centre. A questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of 1202 adolescents. Results: The mean age of the adolescents was 14.1 years and 56.6% were male. Only 58.2% of the adolescents had ever heard of HIV/AIDS. Of these, 95.7% did not know their HIV status. In addition, 15.8% had ever had sexual intercourse and 2.4% had been sexually active at an early age. Almost 45% had not used any contraceptive method the last time they had sex. Condoms were the most frequently used contraceptive method (47.4%). Among teenagers, 27.6% had been pregnant at least once, 7.3% were married and the average age at marriage was 18.45 years. Almost 7% (6.9%) of teenagers had more than one sexual partner. Conclusion: Adolescents have limited knowledge about reproductive health. Risky sexual behaviour persists. Awareness campaigns need to be intensified to improve their sexual and reproductive health.

Smart Approaches to Efficient Text Mining for Categorizing Sexual Reproductive Health Short Messages into Key Themes

To promote behavioral change among adolescents in Zambia, the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Council, in collaboration with UNICEF, developed the Zambia U-Report platform. This platform provides young people with improved access to information on various Sexual Reproductive Health topics through Short Messaging Service (SMS) messages. Over the years, the platform has accumulated millions of incoming and outgoing messages, which need to be categorized into key thematic areas for better tracking of sexual reproductive health knowledge gaps among young people. The current manual categorization process of these text messages is inefficient and time-consuming and this study aims to automate the process for improved analysis using text-mining techniques. Firstly, the study investigates the current text message categorization process and identifies a list of categories adopted by counselors over time which are then used to build and train a categorization model. Secondly, the study presents a proof of concept tool that automates the categorization of U-report messages into key thematic areas using the developed categorization model. Finally, it compares the performance and effectiveness of the developed proof of concept tool against the manual system. The study used a dataset comprising 206,625 text messages. The current process would take roughly 2.82 years to categorise this dataset whereas the trained SVM model would require only 6.4 minutes while achieving an accuracy of 70.4% demonstrating that the automated method is significantly faster, more scalable, and consistent when compared to the current manual categorization. These advantages make the SVM model a more efficient and effective tool for categorizing large unstructured text datasets. These results and the proof-of-concept tool developed demonstrate the potential for enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of message categorization on the Zambia U-report platform and other similar text messages-based platforms.

Sexual and reproductive health service needs of university/ college students： updates from a survey in Shanghai, China

Aim： To promote the provision of reproductive health services to young people by exploring the attitudes and perceptions of university students in Shanghai, China, toward reproductive health. Methods： From July 2004 to May 2006, 5 243 students from 14 universities in Shanghai took part in our survey. Topics covered the demands of reproductive health-care services, attitudes towards and experience with sex, exposure to pornographic material, and knowledge on sexual health and sexually transmitted infections （STIs）/AIDS. Results： Of the 5 067 students who provided valid answer sheets, 50.05% were female and 49.95% were male, 14.86% were medical students, and 85.14% had non-medical backgrounds. A total of 38.4% of respondents had received reproductive health education previously. The majority of students supported school-based reproductive health education, and also acquired information about sex predominantly from books, schoolmates, and the Internet. Premarital sexual behavior was opposed by 17.7% of survey participants, and 37.5% could identify all the three types of STIs listed in the questionnaire. Although 83.7% knew how HIV is transmitted, only 55.7% knew when to use a condom and 57.8% knew that the use of condoms could reduce the risk of HIV infection. Conclusion： The reproductive health service is lagging behind current attitudes and demands of university students. Although students＇ attitudes towards sexual matters are liberal, their knowledge about reproductive health and STIs/AIDS is still limited. It is therefore necessary to provide effective and confidential reproductive health services to young people.

KAP Survey of Turkish University Students on Sexuality,reproductive Health,Drug Addiction and Violence

Objective To investigate the attitudes, behaviours and reflections of the university students, on sexuality, reproductive health, violence, smoking, alcohol and drug use, and to find out their expectations from a youth health service. Methods A total of 5 300 students （1 880 girls, 3 420 boys）from various Jaculties of Kyrykkale University were enrolled into this cross-sectional study. Students completed the self-administered questionnaire as one of the researchers was present at the classroom. Research monitors five categories of priority health-risk behaviours among youth and young adults. Results Mean age of 3 420 male （64.5%） and 1 880female （35.5%） students were 20.3 years. Among all 4 380 （82,9%） students [1 350 girls （71.8%）, 3 030 boys （88.5%）] had some kinds of information about sexuality, however this dropped to 2 730 students （51.5%） within the context of adequacy. Friends were the major source （34%） for the first information on sexuality. Using a condom was the mostly heard method of contraception （46.9%） and interestingly 1.1% of the students had no knowledge on any of the protection methods. Among all 25.3% of the students （33.0% boys, 11.4% girls） had some kind of sexual intercourse, and within this group 58.8% experienced his/her first sexual relationship at 18 years of age and over; 53.9% were protected in all intercourses. Using a condom was the main way of protection for boys （63.7%） and pills were for the girls （73.9%）. None of the female students mentioned having an abortion but 8% had friends who had undergone abortion. Tobacco use was 35.1% among the group, and 8. 7% of the male and 3.6% of the female students were using drugs. Although 67. 4% students claimed they never witnessed violence between their parents, 43.2% witnessed violence among their siblings, 67.0% beween friends, 72.6% in the streets and 64.2% in the school. About 30.0% of the students reported having weight problems, and 14.7% admitted visiting a doctor for that problem. If there would be a service providedfor the adolescents in the university, 67% of the students would attend in case of a problem. Past experiences were important for us and we saw that among all 8% of the participants had some kind of sexual problem, within this group 50.7% felt uncomfortable during the visit and only 60.4% were satisfied with the care of the physician. Conclusion Our study results show the current situation of adolescents in Kyrykkale University and will be used to improve policies and programs to reduce priority healthrisk behaviours among youth of our and surrounding provinces and establish a youth friendly service in Kyrykkale University within this purposes.

A community-based friendly health clinic:An initiative adolescent reproductive health project in the rural and urban areas of Indonesia

Objective:This study aims to examine the effects of a community-based friendly health clinic(CFHC)program that adopts manual participatory learning(MPL)intervention on the adolescents living in the rural and urban areas of Indonesia to gain further insights into their knowledge,attitudes,and skills related to adolescent reproductive health(ARH).Methods:A quasi-experimental design was used to obtain information on the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of adolescents.Two intervention studies that used similar protocols and measures were conducted.A total of 192 adolescents(96 adolescents from urban and rural areas)participated in the project,and the participants from each area were divided into eight groups.A questionairre was adopted to measure the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of these participants.A content analysis of the logbook entries of these respondents was conducted to identify their ARH-related problems.The questionnairre and self-reported ARH data were collected before and after the eight-week program.Results:The CFHC program significantly increased the ARH attitudes(p=0.045)and skills(p=0.009)of adolescents in the rural area,but only improved the ARH knowledge(p<0.001)of adolescents in both rural and urban areas.Fourteen themes were identified in three dominant categories,namely,schools,families,and communities.Conclusions:The CFHC with MPL intervention can improve the ARH knowledge,attitudes,and skills of adolescents in the rural area,but can only improve the ARH knowledge of adolescents in the urban area.The ARH program must be designed based on the characterictics of these adolescents to improve their life skills during puberty.

How the Reproductive Health Needs of Unmarried Youth Be Concerned in Quality Services in Family Planning/Reproductive Health?

Objective To understand the reproductive health needs of unmarried youth so as to provide them better quality services. Method Data were drawn from a baseline questionnaire survey of provision of reproductive health information and services for unmarried youth aged 16-20 years in rural areas of Chengdu, Southwest China in 2001-2002. Results The study comprised of 1 895 valid subjects. More than 70% subjects felt that the knowledge, information and services in relation to sexual and reproductive health provided by the society were rather insufficient. Near 95% thought that unmarried young people seeking sexual and reproductive health counseling and services were quite normal, although some of them had different misgivings. Their preferred services in reproductive health included： counseling in relation to sexual and reproductive health, how to cope with unexpected sex and unwanted pregnancy, how to select the appropriate contraceptives for unmarried youth, etc. About 2/3 subjects agreed to provide contraceptive services to unmarried youth actively, by the society. A. nd they thought the difficulties and obstacles in provision of contraceptive services for un- married youth were in the following order.＂ restriction of the traditional conceptions, shyness of unmarried youth in accept of such services, disapproval of parents/school teachers, and so forth. Conclusion To improve reproductive health status of unmarried youth and meet their needs is a challenge to quality service of family planning/reproductive health program in China, The related departments and service providers should pay attention to this matter and take the strategies and measures to provide appropriate, specific, friendly and accessibly services for unmarried young people.

Reproductive Health Knowledge Level of High School and University Students in Shanghai

Objective To understand the sexual and reproductive health knowledge level of high school and university students in Shanghai. Methods A total of 628 high school students and 709 college students were surveyed with anonymous self-administrated questionnaire in Shanghai. Results The median knowledge scores of students from colleges and high schools were 58 and 39, respectively. Those who had surfed the Internet, had browsed websites on reproductive health, or had communicated sex-related issues with fathers/classmates/friends had more reproductive health knowledge. In addition, the percentage of college students who had surfed the Internet, had browsed websites on reproductive health or had communicated sex-related issues with classmates/friends was higher than that of high school students. Conclusion The knowledge scores of respondents were rather low. Compared with the high school students, the college students had more reproductive health knowledge and sought the knowledge more actively.

Survey on Attitude of Middle School Educators for Sex and Reproductive Health Education

Objective To get a general picture of the attitudes of middle school educators on sex and reproductive health education. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 144 middle school educators in three districts of Shanghai from September to October 2005 using anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Results The majority of the educators thought that it was necessary to launch the sex and reproductive health education in all of the middle schools in Shanghai （97. 02%）. They were aware that the age of the students＇puberty were earlier now than before （94.41%）, but the reproductive health knowledge of students was neither sufficient nor correct （78.34%）. The sex and reproductive health education had been involved in the curriculum of many middle schools （66.11%）. Lacking of qualified education staffs contributed most （90. 71%） in the schools which had not launched the sex and reproductive health education. Lacking of qualified education staffs （90.91%） challenged most in the schools which had carried the education. Conclusion The middle school educators thought it was necessary to carry the sex and reproductive health education in all of the middle schools in Shanghai while the major challenges were lacking of qualified education staffs and sufficient teaching time.

HIV/AIDS, Gender Equality and Reproductive Health

At the beginning of my speech, I would like to thank the Partners in Population and Development for offering us an ideal forum to share experience and discuss ways to move forward concepts prompted by ICPD Cairo conference.

EVALUATION ON THE EFFECT OF A SHORT-TERM INTERVENTION OF SEXUAL/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION AMONG RURAL MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Objective To analyze and evaluate the impact of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health education on students’ sexual knowledge,attitude and behavior.Methods A short term intervention was conducted among high school students in two schools in Xixiang county,Shaanxi Province.The intervention was carried out in the forms of manual,video,discussion,consultation,and so on .The contents of intervention consisted of the knowledge about adolescent physiology,care,conception,STD/HIV, and so on. Results The results showed that students’ knowledge increased significantly(11.92±4.61 before intervention vs 19.81±4.8 after intervention, P =0.000).The sexual attitude and behavior changed insignificantly,especially the change of behavior.Conclusion The intervention is significantly effective in increasing knowledge,but less effective in the change of attitude and almost ineffective in the behavior change.

Adolescent Reproductive Health: Challenges and Change

The field of reproductive health has had long ronnaents in ways that other health fields have not experience negotiating challenging enviperhaps because other health fields usually deal with illness which everyone agrees is not a good thing. Or maybe because we have all been born, we all think we know something about reproduction. Whatever the reason, we have over the years seen bitter political and ideological debates over population and family planning, abortion, the treatment of HIV/AIDS, in vitro fertilization, new contraceptive technologies--and now adolescent reproductive health. We shouldn＇t be surprised. But just as we have had to prevail in those debates in the past, they are crucial today： the numbers of young people entering their reproductive years throughout the world, especially the developing world, make it essential that youth be reached not only with messages and services crafted in the last 40 years but also with new messages, new ideas and new services.

Knowledge about Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Practice of What Is Known among Ghanaian Youth, a Mixed Method Approach

Most young person will become sexually active before their 20th birthday having to battle with early and unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths and injuries. This study examined young person’s sexual knowledge, attitudes and practices and their levels of utilization of sexual reproductive health. Our study progresses beyond current research of reporting only sexual behaviour among youth to have insight into sexual and reproductive health update drivers yielding new empirically robust results for the Ghanaian case for sexual and reproductive health service uptake. The descriptively cross sectional design was employed in sampling 170 youth (150 surveyed and 20 Interviewed) using the stratified sampling technique together with a purposive selection of one key informant. Test of significance and associations were performed with the Chisquare test. In all 45.2% (77/170) of youth (10 - 24) had had sexual experience in life time. In respect of in-school youth, 42% (63/150) had had sexual experience whiles 70% (14/20) out-of-school youth had had sexual intercourse in life time. A total of 28.8% (49/170) of all the youth had sexual intercourse in the last six months with only 40.1 (20/49) using condom for protection. Parental discussion of contraceptive methods (29.3%) and sexual and romantic relationship (28.0%) was the least sexual and reproductive health area discussed among in-school youth. Youth knowledge of the available sexual reproductive health service was statistically associated with reproductive health service utilization (X2 = 0.00, P ≤ 0.05). A concerted effort is required from government, NGO, Civil society organizations and religious bodies to help translate youth knowledge about sexual health into responsible sexual life and protective sex.

Structural model of factors relating to the health promotion behavior of reproductive health among Indonesian adolescents

Objectives:We aim to explore the factors related to the health promotion behavior of reproductive health(RH)among Indonesian adolescents via structural equation modeling.Methods:A cross-sectional quantitative study was used to measure 108 adolescents aged 12-16 years.We employed a self-administered questionnaire developed from the health promotion model(HPM)and the empowerment model(EM)on the basis of self-efficacy to determine the factors related to health promotion in maintaining RH behavior.Structural equation modeling(SEM)was used to examine re-lationships among the variables.The Analysis of Moment Structures(AMOS)approach was used to evaluate if the proposed model is suitable for the data based on goodness-of-fit indices.Results:The model is appropriate for the data.Three interrelationships emerge among independent variables(P>0.05),namely,personal and cognitive behaviors(r=-0.01),cognitive and health pro-motion behaviors(r=0.09),and affective and health promotion behaviors(r=-0.17).The strongest relationship is between empowerment and health promotion behavior(r=0.72).Affection(interper-sonal and situational influences),immediate competing demands and preferences,and empowerment(participation and control)are directly related to RH behavior maintenance.Meanwhile,willingness of adolescents,prior related behavior,personal factor,and commitment to a plan of action are indirectly related to RH behavior maintenance.The model explains 43.9%of the variance in maintaining RH behavior.Conclusions:The HPM and EM models help determine the factors related to RH behavior maintenance among adolescents.Intervention to promote RH among Indonesian adolescents should begin from the level of child-parent-health care professional encounter for empowering the RH of adolescents.

A New Page for Women's Reproductive Health in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine

The integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine (ICWM) of obstetrics and gynecology (OBS/GYN) emerged eventually with more than 40 years’ hard struggle, and one of the most promising articles is the integration of the masterpieces of menstrual disorder and infertility in TCM and the virtual explosion of new knowledge and methods in

Study of Peer-led Intervention on Reproductive Health Education and AIDS Prevention in Joint Venture Factories in Kunshan County

Objective To disseminate the knowledge of contraception and STD/AIDS prevention to unmarried young adults.Methods A peer-led 8-month intervention on reproductive health promotion and STD/ AIDS preve,tion was conducted in joint venture factories in Kunshan County through existing famity planning service network. A quasi-experimental design was used. Results The contraception. STD/AIDS related knowledge and attitudes improved significantly, and the use of condom also increased significantly in experimental group after the intervention. No such changes occurred in control group. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the peer-led education is an effective approvach of expanding reproductive health and AIDS prevention services to unmarried young adults in the joint venture factories.

Reproductive Health Service Utilization and Social Determinants among Married Female Rural-to-urban Migrants in Two Metropolises,China

Reproductive health（RH） education and services of female migrants in China have become an important health issue.This research aimed to investigate the RH knowledge and utilization among married female migrants,and to explore the influencing factors from the perspectives of population and sociology.We conducted a cross-section survey in Shenzhen and Wuhan,China,using the purposive sampling method.A total of 1021 rural-to-urban married migrants were recruited,with 997 valid survey results obtained.A face-to-face structured questionnaire survey was used,with primary focus on knowledge of fertility,contraception,family planning policy and sexual transmitted diseases/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome（STD/AIDs）,and RH service utilization.The results showed that the RH service utilization（38.0%） was at a low level in married migrants and the accessibility of RH service was poor.Females who migrated to（OR=0.32） Wuhan obtained fewer RH consultations than those in Shenzhen.The workers with high school education received additional RH consultations and checkup services than those with other background education,apart from the white collar workers who received extra RH consultations and checkup services than the blue collar workers（P〈0.05）.We can draw a conclusion that the utilization of RH services in married female migrants remains at a low level in China.RH service utilization can be improved via the relevant health departments by enhancing the responsibility of maternal and health care in the community health service center.

Adolescent and Unmarried Youth Reproductive Health:Status,Perspectives and Strategies

The United Nations International Conference on Population and Development(ICPD), held in Cairo in 1994, recognized that adolescents and young people have

Knowledge and Service Demand of Reproductive Health among Migrant Population

Objective To understand the sexual and reproductive health knowledge among unmarried migrant population and their service demands as well as current services delivered by local family planning departments, so as to provide scientific evidences on conducting reproductive health education and appropriate service for migrant population in the district. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among a convenient sample of unmarried young migrant population between 15 and 25 years old in Dongshan District. All data were entered into database with the software Foxpro6.0 and analyzed with the statistics software SPSS10.0. Results Unmarried migrant population had some kinds＇ of sexual and reproductive health knowledge and was eager to access to reproductive health service. They hoped that relevant governmental departments could provide them more information, education and service on sexuality and reproductive health. Conclusion Relevant departments should work together to popularize reproductive health knowledge among unmarried migrant population and meet their demands on reproductive health service, so as to improve their current reproductive health situation.

Helping Meet Reproductive Health Needs in Pakistan through a Client-centred Approach

Objective To test the feasibility of training clinic and facility based providers from the Health and Population Welfare Departments. Methods District Sargodha in Punjab province in Pakistan was selected for carrying out the project as it fulfilled the criteria of being a median district with generally similar characteristics as the rest of the country. A quasi-experimental design was used to test the effectiveness of the training programs. Two rounds of situation analyses were carried out both pre and post intervention. Results There was a positive attitudinal change in providers in the intervention areas as compared with the control sites. From a list of indicators it was seen that clinic based static providers considered it important to enquire who were the main decision makers were in the family, 60% in intervention versus 49 % in control, and if the client can persuade other members of the family to assist in solving her reproductive health needs, 19% in intervention and 3% in control. In case of community based providers, as compared with 16% in the control site, 76% in the intervention area considered seeking permission for examination to be important. They also felt that enquiring about the welfare of other family members was also necessary, 50% in intervention and 34% in control. Conclusion Training of providers could lead to attitudinal and behavioural changes that can help clients meet their reproductive health needs, and the intervention is feasible and replicable.