Reproductive health awareness among urban school going adolescents in Vadodara city.

AIMS: To identify the reproductive health issues associated with adolescence and the readiness to avail services like Adolescent Friendly Clinic (AFC) among urban school going children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quantitative survey was carried out using a self-administered structured questionnaire among 1440 (748 girls and 692 boys) students from classes 6 -12 in 7 English medium and 23 Gujarati medium schools. Focus group discussions, 5 each with adolescent boys and girls and teachers were held from Gujarati and English medium schools. RESULTS: A higher proportion of boys and girls could identify visible external changes in the opposite sex as compared to the changes not seen outwardly. The sources of information on human reproduction for most of the boys and girls were schoolbooks, television, teachers, friends and parents in the same order. Over two-thirds of the boys and girls expressed a need for more information on reproduction. Teachers also perceived that adolescents, though curious, lacked opportunities for open discussions to answer their queries related to reproductive health. One-third of the boys and one-fourth of the girls had heard about contraception. Two-thirds of boys and girls had heard of HIV/AIDS, and about half of them correctly knew various modes of transmission of HIV. Majority of the adolescents expressed their readiness to use the services of Adolescent Friendly Centre. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Information on the human reproductive system and related issues on reproductive health need special attention. Teachers' sensitization to adolescent health care is required.

Reproductive health awareness among rural school going adolescents of Vadodara district.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the reproductive health issues associated with adolescence and their readiness to avail services like Adolescent Friendly Clinic (AFC) among rural school going children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quantitative survey was carried out using a self-administered structured questionnaire among 768 (428 boys and 340 girls) students from 15 schools by systematic random sampling from schools (3 schools from 5 talukas). Focus group discussions, 5 each with adolescent boys and girls and teachers were held. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Only 31% of the boys and 33% of the girls mentioned that they had heard about contraception. More than half of the adolescent boys and girls knew correctly about various modes of transmission of HIV/AIDS. A large proportion of boys and girls have mentioned changes in the opposite sex such as increase in height, change in voice, breast development, and growth of facial hair, growth of hair in private parts, onset of menstruation in girls, etc. Nearly 70% of adolescents were ready to use AFC. Teachers perceived that adolescents become curious about the changes taking place in them, but they lack information and opportunities for open-discussions to get answers to their queries related to reproductive health. They are willing to take help from teachers but teachers are not equipped with knowledge nor are they comfortable discussing these issues with their students. RECOMMENDATIONS: Information on the human reproductive system and related issues on reproductive health need special attention. Teachers' sensitization to "adolescent health care" is required.