The use of condoms and other birth control methods among sexually active school-going adolescents in nine sub-Saharan African countries

BMC Public Health

Research

Augustus Osborne¹  Lawrence Sao Babawo²  Emmanuel Kamanda Margao³  Abdulai Jawo Bah⁴  Peter Bai James⁵ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, Njala University, Njala, Sierra Leone;Department of Nursing, School of Community Health Sciences, Njala University, Bo Campus, Bo, Sierra Leone;Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone;Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone;Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University Edinburg, Musselburgh, Scotland, UK;National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, 2480, Lismore, NSW, Australia;Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone;

关键词: Contraceptives;    Adolescents;    Sub-Saharan African;    Condom use;    Sexual and reproductive health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-022-14855-6

 received in 2022-07-29, accepted in 2022-12-12,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAdolescents in sub-Saharan Africa still face sexual and reproductive health challenges. Contraceptives have been used to address these challenges. Despite efforts at national and global levels, contraceptive uptake among young people in Africa remains a challenge due to personal, societal, and health systems-based barriers. We estimated the prevalence and correlates of condom use and other birth control methods among sexually active school-going adolescents in nine sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of the Global School-based Student Health Surveys (GSHS) datasets pooled from nine SSA countries. We included a sample of 27,504 school-going adolescents 11 years and younger and 18 years and older. We employed meta-analysis using a random-effects model to estimate the total prevalence of the use of condoms, other birth control methods other than a condom and any birth control method at last sexual intercourse. We conducted complex sample descriptive and logistic regression analyses to determine the characteristics and determinants of not using condoms and other birth control methods among sexually active school-going adolescents in nine sub-Saharan African countries, respectively.ResultsMore than half [n = 4430, 53.8% (43.9–63.8)], two-fifth [n = 3242, 39.5% (33.2–45.9) and two-thirds of adolescents [n = 4838, 65.6% (57.5–73.7)] of sexually active in school adolescents across the nine sub-Saharan African countries used condom, other birth control methods and any form birth control method during their last sexual intercourse, respectively. The non-use of condoms at last sex was associated with being younger (less than 16 years) [AOR = 1.48;95%CI: 1.12–1.94], early sexual debut [AOR = 1.81(1.47–2.22)], having two or more sexual partners [AOR = 1.30(1.06–1.58)] and no/minimal parental support [AOR = 1.54(1.17–2.03)]. The non-use of other birth control methods at last sex was associated with being male [AOR = 1.37 (1.09–1.73)], early sexual debut [AOR = 1.83(1.48–2.27) and having no parental support [AOR = 1.64(1.34–2.00)].ConclusionContraceptive need among sexually active school adolescents in the nine sub-Saharan African countries is high. Such a need calls for the development of country-specific and or the review of existing school-based sexual health education and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health interventions that target risky adolescents and promote adolescent-parent effective communication, connectedness and support.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

12888_2022_4365_Article_IEq41.gif

12888_2022_4365_Article_IEq39.gif