Sexual Behaviour and Uptake of Modern Contraceptives among Adolescents in Public Secondary Schools in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Globally, more than 16 million adolescent girls give birth every year with additional 5 million abortions. Adolescent  pregnancy has been associated with high maternal mortality rates in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was designed to assess sexual behaviour and contraceptive uptake among secondary school adolescents in an urban area in Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study of students from twelve senior secondary schools in 2018. Respondents were interviewed with structured questionnaires which were self-administered. The questionnaire was pretested and analysis was done using SPSS version 17.0; descriptive data presented as simple frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was used for associations and level of significance set at p≤5%.

Results: The majority of the respondents (70.3 %) were within the age bracket of 13 to 16 years with mean age of 15.95±1.43. Generally, there was 100% awareness of the methods of contraceptives by all, with 64.5% aware of condom usage as a method of contraception. The level of knowledge scored fairly (62.4%), attitude was 48.9% amongst males and females who had responsibility for contraception. Peer pressure of 42.9% was stated as one of the major factors affecting utilization of modern contraceptives.

Conclusion: Awareness of contraception amongst the adolescents was high. But with the level of knowledge identified, the government should ensure proper measures to promote sexual behavior and uptake of contraception among adolescents in Nigeria.

Keywords: Sexual Behaviour, Contraceptives, Utilisation, Adolescents, Schools