REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEEDS AND SERVICE UTILIZATION AMONG YOUTH IN BULE HORA TOWN SOUTHERN OROMIA, ETHIOPIA: A COMMUNITY BASED CROSSECTIONAL STUDY

ABSTRACT Background: According to the world health organization, youth age group encompasses between 15-24 years. Recent estimates indicate that 17.0% of the global population, 20.0% of Sub-Saharan Africa and 17.9% of... [ view full abstract ]

ABSTRACT
Background: According to the world health organization, youth age group encompasses between 15-24 years. Recent estimates indicate that 17.0% of the global population, 20.0% of Sub-Saharan Africa and 17.9% of Ethiopian population is composed of youth aged 15-24 years. In Ethiopia, the sexual and reproductive health of young people has become a major public concern due to a high prevalence of STIs like HIV/AIDS among young people.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess reproductive health needs of youth in Bule Hora town
Methos and material: The community based quantitative cross sectional survey was conducted among 422 youth in Bule Hora town, Southern Oromia Region from September 2011 to may 2012.
Result and discussion:. As it was revealed by logistic regression age, and marital status were found to be the main predictors and negatively associated with sexual activities.But sex (being a female) was independently and positively associated with sexual activities.According to this study females have more risk of sexual engagement compared to males. The proportion of youth who ever used modern contraceptives did not go parallel with their knowledge of methods.Also after controlling for confounding variables logistic regression show that living patterns (living with both family) was found to be the main predictors, independently and negatively associated with use of modern contraceptive. Despite having all these health problems only, 47.6% of them had visited public health institutions.
Conclusion and recommendation: Generally there were reproductive health problems like lack of adequate information, and the existence of risk sexual and RH behaviours, inapproprate health service utilization and socio cultural factors affecting youth reproductive health.Finally, programs that comprise both promotional activities and reproductive health services that could serve the hard to reach youth should be designed and implemented as a matter of priority.