FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACCEPTANCE AND USAGE OF CONTRACEPTIVES AMONG FEMALE ADOLESCENTS (15-19 years) IN SAGNARIGU MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

In Ghana, the uptake of family planning is very low and hence the persistent high rate of unmet needs and low rates of contraceptive usage. With the continuous increase in sexual activities, unplanned and unprotected sexual intercourse place young people at risk of unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, infections with Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) including HIV and AIDS and maternal deaths; which pose a major challenge to adolescent reproductive health. This is however, highly inconsistent with the level of knowledge of contraceptives among adolescents in Ghana. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 165 female adolescents. Descriptive bivariate and logistic regression analysis techniques were used to analyze and present the data. The demographic characteristics of the respondents was analyzed and presented using a descriptive statistic in the form of Frequency and Percentages. Mean, Median and Standard deviation were also calculated for the age. The study applies Chi-square test to measure the relationship between the response variable and explanatory variables. Logistic regression was applied to evaluate the odds of the factors hindering the acceptance and the usage of contraceptives among the adolescence. Results suggested that although majority of the respondents have heard about contraception (i.e. knowledge about contraceptives), prevalence of contraceptive was however low. Although, a reasonable number of the respondents have ever used contraceptives but only once in a while which cannot justify the high prevalence of contraceptive usage. Based on these findings, the study concludes that more public health education alongside other interventions increase contraceptive usage and prevalence among female adolescents who are sexually active.