Parent-adolescent discussion on sexual and reproductive health issues and its associated factors among parents in Sawla town, Gofa zone, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Parent-adolescent discussion on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues leads to increased awareness on reproductive health matters and reduces risky behaviors among adolescents and also contributes to negative SRH outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess parent-adolescent discussion on SRH issues and its associated factors in Sawla town, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of 10-19-year-olds in Sawla town from March to April 2020. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select 697 study subjects. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire, adapted from the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic Health Survey and other published literature. The questionnaire consisted of questions about socio-demographic factors, knowledge about SRH issues, attitudes towards SRH issues, and discussions between parents and adolescents concerning SRH issues and was administered by face-to-face interviews p-value < 0.05 and 95%CI for adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were used to declare the significance of the associations. RESULTS: Of the total participants, 168 (25.7%) respondents had reported discussion about at least two components of SRH issues in the last 6 months prior to the study. Multiple logistic regression model revealed that attending primary education (AOR 3, 95% CI: 1.10, 7.70), secondary education (AOR 9, 95% CI: 3.87, 20.64) and diploma and above (AOR 22.33, 95% CI: 9.49, 32.56), monthly income of above 2000 Ethiopian Birr (AOR 2.40, 95% CI: 1.30, 4.55), good knowledge (AOR 2, 95% CI: 1.14, 3.50)and positive attitude (AOR 4, 95% CI: 1.57, 10) towards SRH issues were statically significant factors associated with increased parent-adolescent discussion about SRH. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of parent-adolescent SRH discussion is low in Sawla town. Educational status, average monthly income, knowledge and attitude on SRH issues were major factors affecting parent-adolescent discussion on SRH issues. Continuous capacity building on SRH issues for parents to increase the level of parental knowledge and attitude about SRH issues and sustainable advocacy should be provided about the importance of parent to the adolescent discussion. Moreover, it is important to support and scale up the adult learning program to decrease the level of illiteracy.

Barriers to Family Planning Service Utilization in Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The unmet need for family planning (FP) is a major impediment to achieving the sustainable development goal The COVID-19 pandemic and other contextual, individual, and hospital-related problems are major barriers that reduce FP service uptake. However, most of the studies are quantitative and give due focus to individual and community-level barriers. Therefore, this study tends to explore barriers to the utilization of FP in Ethiopia including health care and contextual barriers. Methods: A multiple explorative case study design was employed from October to December 2021 and a total of 41 Key-informant interviews, 32 in-depth interviews, and 13 focus group discussions were performed by using the purposive sampling technique. The data were analyzed with a thematic content analysis approach using NVivo software. Result: This study explored barriers to FP in four major teams; individual, community-related, health system, and contextual barriers. It reviled that the community's misconception, fear of side effects, lack of women's decision-making autonomy, existing socio-cultural norms, religious conditions, topography, covid 19 pandemic, and conflict were the major barriers to FP service utilization. Conclusion: Using the four teams mentioned above, this study identified different poor health professional skills, misconceptions, pandemics, functional, and structurally related barriers. As a result, it is recommended that health education for the community and training for health professionals are important. Collaboration between government and non-government organizations is also mandatory for strengthening mentorship and supervision systems and establishing resilient health care that can avoid future pandemics.

Suboptimal child spacing practice and its associated factors among women of child bearing age in Serbo town, JIMMA zone, Southwest Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION: Birth spacing is the time gaps between two consecutive life births. Optimal spacing until the next pregnancy is the resting period that allows the mother time to recover from pregnancy, and labor. Birth interval of 3 to 5 years increases maternal health and child survival and family planning programs have advocated this birth interval. OBJECTIVES: To assess prevalence of Suboptimal Child spacing practice and its associated factors among Women of Child bearing age in Serbo town, Jimma Zone Southwest Ethiopia. METHODS: Community based cross sectional study was conducted on a total of 314 women of child bearing age from March to April 2017 who were selected by simple random sampling. A semi structured questionnaire which was pretested was used to collect the data. Data was checked for completeness and analyzed using SPSS V.20. Bi-variable logistic regression and multi- variable regression were done for predictor variables associated at p-value < 0.05 with the outcome variable. RESULT: The prevalence of short birth interval in this study was 59.9%. Independent predictors like age at first marriage (AOR: 2.10, 95% CI = 1.19, 3.69), sex of index child (AOR: 1.964, 95% CI = 1.05 3.96), educational status (AOR: 3.05,95% CI = 1.68, 3.83), duration of breastfeeding (AOR: 3.09, 95% CI = 1.38, 6.96) and use of modern contraceptives (AOR: 1.94, 95% CI = 1.09, 3.45) were found to be statistically associated with short birth interval. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Majority of the study respondents were practicing short birth interval. Education level, age at first marriage, having female child, short duration of breastfeeding and not using of modern contraceptives were factors associated with the outcome variable. Therefore awareness about modern contraceptive utilization, importance of breastfeeding as birth spacing mechanism and impact of early marriage are recommended.