AWARENESS,PERCEPTION AND UTILIZATION OF ADOLESCENT HEALTH SERVICES AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENT IN OYIGBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA,RIVERS STATE,NIGERIA
Abstract
Adolescent health services are comprehensive, multidisciplinary interventions and programs designed to meet the unique health and developmental needs of individuals aged 10–19 years. The study objective was to determine the Awareness, Perception and Utilization of Adolescent Health Services Among In-School Adolescents in Oyigbo Local Government Area. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 436 adolescents using a multistage sampling method. Data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the adolescent, awareness, perception and utilization of adolescent health services was collected via an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 27. The level of awareness from our study was low, 87 (20%) of the participants have the awareness of adolescent health services. Among participants who have awareness, their major source of awareness was from school (n = 57, 65.5%); 62 (71.3%) of them had positive perception towards adolescent health services and 12 (57.1%) utilized these services. The factors associated with the utilization of adolescent health services from our study include the following, easy accessibility (n = 10; 83.3%), affordability (n = 10; 83.3%), parental encouragement (n = 11; 91.7%) and friendly healthcare workers (n = 12; 100%). Factors that deter the usage were long distance of healthcare facilities (n = 5; 41.7%), distrusted healthcare workers (n = 6; 50%), lack of knowledge about available services (n = 6; 50%), long waiting times (n = 5; 41.7%) and feeling embarrassed or judged when seeking services (n = 4; 33.3%). The study found low awareness, positive perception and low level of utilization of adolescent health services among adolescents in Oyigbo Local Government Area and recommended that targeted interventions should focus on health education programs in schools to further improve awareness, perception and utilization of adolescent health services.
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