Knowledge, attitude and practice on sexual and reproductive health among adolescents: The case of northern Ethiopia

Background: Reaching adolescents at an early stage in their lives and providing them with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves and their partners are vital to promoting their health and well-being. Negative patterns of adolescent behavior and attitudes play an important role in the spread of ASRH related health hazards, thereby reducing the economic capacity of the country.

Methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design where a total of 406 adolescents aged 10 to 19 years participated.

Results: Close to half of the respondents did not know what sexual act and unsafe sex are. Early marriage is commonly practiced in the study areas. Prevention of incidence of unwanted pregnancy is still a concern as only 56.6% of the respondents ever used family planning. About 20% of the respondents correctly identified emergency contraceptive as a method of preventing unwanted pregnancy during unprotected sex. More than half of the respondents do not have adequate knowledge of unsafe abortion. Knowledge on STI among respondents is still limited, 38.7% never heard about STI. Knowledge level on signs or symptoms of STIs that boys or girls may have is also extremely low. Sexual and gender based violence is known by 64.5% of respondents. Rape and early marriage are the two most commonly practiced GBV.

Conclusion: The study has provided important information regarding the sexual behavior, reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice of adolescents. Improving safe sexual behavior and increasing service utilization would demand intensive information and education interventions targeting the adolescents.