Determinants of Attitude of School Going Adolescent Girls Towards Reproductive Health with their Treatment Seeking Behaviour

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence includes the age group between 10 to 19 years. World Health Organization has defined adolescence as the progression from the appearance of secondary sexual characters to sexual maturity and the development of adult mental processes. Puberty is the transitional period linking childhood to adulthood and involves physical, biological and psychosexual changes. Objectives: To identify major determinants of the attitude of Adolescent school girls regarding reproductive health. Material and Methods: Study design: Descriptive crosssectional Study, Study Area: The present study was conducted at randomly selected government and private schools located in the areas served by UHTC and RHTC of the Department of Community Medicine, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences (SRMS IMS) at Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Study Period: The study was conducted over a period of one year, i.e., from 1st May 2014 to 30th April 2015. Study Population: The study population comprised adolescent girls studying in the selected government and private schools in the urban and rural areas. Study Subjects: Adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years, attending 6th to 10th class in the selected government and private schools were included in the study. Sample size estimation: 420.Sampling Technique: Simple random sampling without replacement technique. Statistical tool: Logistics regression model. Results: The findings imply that the daughter of a highly educated mother (β = 0.453, p < 0.001), high socioeconomic class (β = 0.372, p < 0.001), and having Media access (β = 0.409, p < 0.001) appeared as strong significant predictors of adolescent girls positive attitude towards reproductive health issues. Suggests that a daughter’s positive attitude towards reproductive health issues is significantly influenced by her mother’s education level, socioeconomic status, and media access (β = 0.453, p < 0.001; β = 0.372, p < 0.001; β = 0.409, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Promoting health-seeking behavior and educating the people who play a role in being sources of information on menstruation will help to improve menstrual hygiene among rural adolescent girls. Training programs for school teachers by health professionals involving parents in health education programs are some important steps that can be taken.