Reproductive Health Knowledge of Adolescent Students in Ga East Municipality of Ghana; A Concern for Public Health

It is estimated that about 1.7 million young men and women between the ages of 10 – 19 years lose their lives through pregnancy related complications and other illness that are either preventable or treatable. The objective of this descriptive cross sectional study was to explore the reproductive health knowledge of in-school adolescents in the Ga-East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Eight hundred and thirty eight (838) consenting adolescent students were randomly selected from four sub-municipalities to participate in the study. The schools included two senior high school and four (4) junior high schools. One school each was randomly selected among a list of schools from each sub municipality. Quantitative data of the respondents were collected using a structured questionnaire. The data reveal a high awareness of modern contraceptive methods and sex education by respondents. However, most of them indicated receiving no training on it. Although 82% of respondents generally support abstinences of sex until marriage, they lack the knowledge on the relationship between pregnancy and first sexual intercourse. The average and median ages at sexual debut were found to be 15.6 and 16 years respectively. Adolescents aged 16 years or older and from SHS were more likely to have heard of contraceptives than their counterparts from JHS and who were 15 years or younger (OR =1.58 95% CI 1.12 – 2.23 ; OR = 9.7 95% CI 6.44 – 14.71). Further evaluation with the multiple logistic regression analysis maintained the association between class of respondents and knowledge of sex education as well as knowledge on contraceptive. Sex education training need to be enhanced and equally accessible to all adolescents especially in the first and second cycle institutions.