School attendance and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescent girls in Kenya: a cross-sectional analysis

Reproductive Health

Research

Clement Oduor¹  Yohannes Dibaba Wado¹  Sai Surabi Thirugnanasampanthar²  Erica Di Ruggiero²  Paula Braitstein³  Lonnie Embleton⁴ 

[1] African Population and Health Research Center, P. O. Box 10787-00100, Nairobi, Kenya;Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, M5T 3M7, Toronto, ON, Canada;Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, M5T 3M7, Toronto, ON, Canada;College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya;Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare, Eldoret, Kenya;Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Centre for Global Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, M5T 3M7, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Global Health and Health System Design, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Arnhold Institute for Global Health, New York, USA;

关键词: Sexual and reproductive health;    Adolescent girls;    Adolescent pregnancy;    Contraceptives;    School attendance;    Kenya;    Comprehensive sexuality education;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12978-023-01577-0

 received in 2022-10-20, accepted in 2023-01-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGiven the high burden of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes (SRH) and low levels of school attendance among adolescent girls in Kenya, this study sought to elucidate the association between school attendance and SRH outcomes among adolescent girls in Homa Bay and Narok counties.MethodsThis study uses baseline quantitative data from the mixed-methods evaluation of the In Their Hands (ITH) program which occurred between September to October 2018 in Homa Bay and Narok counties. In total, 1840 adolescent girls aged 15–19 years participated in the baseline survey, of which 1810 were included in the present analysis. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the association between school attendance (in- versus out-of-school) and ever having sex, condom use during last sex, and ever pregnant, controlling for age, orphan status, income generation, religion, county, relationship status, and correct SRH knowledge.ResultsAcross the 1810 participants included in our study, 61.3% were in-school and 38.7% were out-of-school. Compared to adolescent girls who were in-school, those out-of-school were more likely (AOR 5.74 95% CI 3.94, 8.46) to report ever having sex, less likely (AOR: 0.21, 95% CI 0.16, 0.31) to have used a condom during their last sexual intercourse, and more likely (AOR: 6.98, 95% CI 5.04, 9.74) to have ever been pregnant.ConclusionsSchool attendance plays an integral role in adolescent girls’ SRH outcomes, and it is imperative that policy actors coordinate with the government and community to develop and implement initiatives that support adolescent girls’ school attendance and education.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023