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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Michiyo Hashimoto, PhD, Dept. of Public Health, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu-machi, Tochigi, Japan, 0282872133, michiyoh@dokkyomed.ac.jp, Yoshimi Nakade, School of Human Services, Asai Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan, Hitomi Maeda, PhD, Miyazaki Medical College, University of Miyazaki, Kiyotake, Miyazaki, Japan, Tokiko Ishida, RN, MSc, School of Nursing, Fukushima Medical College, Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan, and Hisako Takamura, School of Nursing, Jichi Medical School, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke-shi, Japan.

To promote adolescent reproductive health (ARH), the peer counseling method focusing on individual decision-making skills in daily life has been introduced in Japan. This study was conducted to examine the consistency of programs and educational tools used by on-going ARH education with the needs of the target population. Subjects were 700 high school students (aged between 13 and 18 years), who were recruited through the school, completed a self-administered questionnaire. Male subjects comprised 31% of the total. Among them, 287 (41%) received ARH education by the peer counseling method, and 413 (59%) did not. As a result, subjects receiving ARH education indicated that they had higher regard for one's self than subjects without ARH. Characteristics of sexuality, part of the teaching content of ARH education, were considered a significantly more important topic by ARH subjects than by non-ARH subjects. However, 50% of subjects replied that there was a relationship between love and having sex, and there were no significant differences in the prevalence of this response between ARH and non-ARH subjects. Moreover, significantly more ARH subjects reported that they considered the possibilities of pregnancy and infection by STIs than non-ARH subjects. ARH subjects also indicated that understanding of pregnancy and STIs became more familiar topics by discussing what to do when it happens with peers rather than using traditional tools (e.g., videos and lectures). In conclusion, this study suggests that the on-going program content and tools to teach ARH maintain compatibility with the needs of high school students.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe current adolescent reproductive health issues in Japan
• Identify the needs of Japanese adolescents in learning about reproductive health
• Discuss the future implications of disseminating effective peer counseling methods

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered