Reproductive Health Knowledge, Sexual Partners, Contraceptive Use and Motives for Premarital Sex among Female Sub-Urban Nigerian Secondary Students

Abstract

Adolescents in sub-Saharan African countries constitute a large proportion of the population. They are sexually active, engage in unsafe reproductive health behavior with attendant consequences but lack appropriate reproductive health education. In the Nigeria Nation Reproductive Health Strategy Framework and Plan, the status of adolescents' reproductive health care is considered low. This study assessed reproductive health knowledge, sexual partners, contraceptive use, and motives for premarital sex among female sub-urban Nigerian secondary students. The study was cross-sectional, involving 500 senior secondary 1 and 2 female sub-urban students. The instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS. More than 70.0% of the respondents had knowledge of all reproductive health items; male and female condoms were popular contraceptives. At least 53.4% were sexually active and a majority (49.6%) had boyfriends as sex partners. Peer pressure (31.6%) and fun/pleasure (29.2%) were major motives for engaging in premarital sex. Majority (40.3%) terminated pregnancies through self-medication. Though respondents had knowledge of reproductive health, there is need to introduce health education (incorporating reproductive health education) as a core subject in schools as well as provision of youth-friendly health facilities.