Youth Responsive Health Care Facilities Utilization and Connected Factors among High School Students

John Vesley^*
*Correspondence: John Vesley, Department of Public Health and Safety, University of Laghouat, Algeria, Tel: (+34) 903 254 218, Email:

Editorial

Globally young people are faced with immense reproductive health problems; they have limited access to quality reproductive health services and information that are specially designed to meet their needs. In Ethiopia about 63% of the total population is below the age of 25 years Nationwide 13% of teenagers have started childbearing, coerced into unwanted sex or marriage, putting them at risk of unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections including human immunodeficiency virus. The objective of this study was to assess utilization of youth friendly reproductive health service among high school student in Boset Woreda, Ethiopia, May, 2018. Institutional based cross-sectional study was used to assess youth friendly service utilization. A total of 360 study participants were selected from three randomly selected high schools. sample random sampling was used to select study participants, list of students in the school provided by the respective school registrar office was used as a sampling frame. Structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and data was entered into EPI-INFO Version -7 and analysed using statistical package for social science version 20. Odds ratios, along with 95% confidence interval was calculated using bi variable and multivariable logistic regression; p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The study indicated that among 360 students, 187(51.9%) were females and 34.4% of youth’s utilized youth reproductive health service. From the total of 360 students 224(62.2%) were knowledgeable about reproductive health service. Factors affect utilizing reproductive health services include, 43% don’t know where to get service, 8.9% institution is distant and (8.1%) feel fear to be seen by parents, friends and neighbour. Study showed a significant association with utilization of youth reproductive health services. Females were 1.76 times more likely to use reproductive health services than male respondents (AOR = 1.76, (95% CI 1.12-2.78)). Youth who are near to health facility in less than 30 minute travel or those who pay 2 ETB for transport cost were 2.6 times more likely to utilize reproductive health service than those who take more than 30 minute walking distance (AOR=2.6 (95% CI1.2-5.99).The utilization level of youth friendly reproductive health service was very low; Therefore, it needs a great effort and attention of all the concerned bodies to design and implement appropriate youth reproductive health information, education and communication strategies in schools to influence the knowledge, attitudes and practice of youths to increase the service utilization. Our world is home to 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24, and the youth Population is growing fastest in the poorest nations. Young people make up slightly less than one quarter of world population, with over 85% living in developing countries. Africa is the world’s youngest continent, 70% of the region’s population was under the age of 30, and slightly more than 20 per cent were young people between the ages of 15 to 24. The development of sub-Saharan Africa is closely linked to the wellbeing of its young people. With more than one-third of the total population aged 10 to 24.