QUALITY OF ADOLESCENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES IN GOVERNMENT PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES IN AKURE, ONDO STATE

Abstract

Adolescents represent a special group of people with peculiar needs and problems which are largely uncatered for. While the need for adolescent-friendly health services has been recognised in several national policy documents,very little is known about the quality of available reproductive health services in terms of their addressing health needs of young people.
This study investigated the quality of reproductive health services available in government public health facilities in Akure,Ondo State, with a view to providing information for improvement of these services. Specifically, the study ascertained the range of reproductive health services available to adolescents in government public health facilities, assessed the perception of adolescents regarding the quality of reproductive health services available to them, determined the prevalence of reproductive health problems among the adolescents and factors that influenced their choice of sources for reproductive health care.
The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Self-administered questionnaires were used to to collect data from adolescents while a structured checklist tool was used to assess the health facilities. In addition, sixteen Focus Group Discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted among adolescents and a mystery client approach was also conducted. The data generated were analysed using SPSS version 13.
This study observed that in the primary health facilities, 23 (76%) of the staff did not have training on adolescent reproductive health issues, only six out of ten
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types of basic equipment required for reproductive health service delivery were found in more than half of them, 5 (33%) had basic reproductive health drugs, 13 (87%) facilities had only pregnancy testing services and none had services for HIV/AIDS counseling and testing.
The attitude of health providers towards adolescents obtaining reproductive health services was unsupportive as more than two-thirds, 29 (81%) of them demonstated a poor attitude towards adolescent reproductive health issues. Adolescents perception of the facilities and health providers competence to attend to their reproductive health problems was also poor.
One hundred and eighty-two (91%) of the males and 146 (73%) of the females were sexually active. Ninety-one (77%) of the sexually active adolescents or their partners reported having had an abortion. Only 158 (39.5%) of the sexually active adolescents used contraceptives during the last sexual intercourse prior to study. Symptoms suggestive of previous STI, like discharge from the genitals in 128 (64%) males and itching in the genitals in 103 (52%) females were reported among them.
While the prevalence of reproductive health problems of young people is high, the capacity to meet these needs is poor. It is recommended that efforts to improve the quality of available health services in government public health facilities are needed to meet the challenge of reproductive health needs of adolescents.

QUALITY OF ADOLESCENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES IN GOVERNMENT PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES IN AKURE, ONDO STATE