ATTITUDE AND UTILIZATION OF COMPREHENSIVE ABORTION CARE SERVICES BY YOUNG PEOPLE (10 - 24 YEARS) IN THE TAMALE METROPOLIS

Abstract

Globally, unsafe abortion especially among young people has become a key public health concern compelling government and civil society organizations to institute legal policies and interventions such as Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) that provides safe abortion services. Despite these sorts of interventions, many female young people continue to practice unsafe abortion when unintended pregnancy occurs. This study was therefore aimed at assessing the attitude and utilization of CAC by young people, both males and females in the Tamale Metropolis. A cross sectional study was used to gather information from young people (10-24 years) in urban and rural areas as well as CAC service providers in the Tamale Metropolis. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data which was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0. A mixed method of sampling was used to select a total of 340 respondents for the study. The study found out that 56.4% of the respondents were unaware of what CAC service was and 73.6% did not know where to seek CAC services. Majority,62.1% of the respondents had a negative attitude towards CAC services. The study further revealed that the highest ranked factor influencing the utilization of CAC service with a mean rank of 1.9 is physical access to CAC services. Respondents in the study also revealed that residing in the rural area (P=0.033), unavailability of CAC services (P=0.031), attitude of Health Workers (P=0.001), stigma (P=0.038) and cost of service (P=0.028) are significant barriers that prevent young people especially ladies from utilizing CAC services. The study showed that majority of the young people in the Tamale metropolis have low knowledge and awareness about CAC leading to a negative attitude and low utilization of CAC services. Stakeholders should promote access to safe and legal abortion services and also publicize the availability of these services whiles ensuring affordable especially for poor and rural women. The study recommends further research into assessing the quality of CAC services provided and also, complications arising from CAC services in the Tamale Metropolis.