PERCEIVED SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THE UTILIZATION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES AMONG RURAL ADOLESCENTS IN THE SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA PERCEIVED SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THE UTILIZATION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES AMONG RURAL ADOLESCENTS IN THE SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed sociocultural factors influencing the utilization of reproductive health services among rural adolescents in south-eastern Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 282 adolescents between 15-19years who are in senior secondary school. A structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (mean scores). The findings revealed that the level of utilization was low, with a grand mean score of ( = 2.49) and the regression result showed some socio-cultural influences such as sex of service provider(z=2.52<0.05), affiliation with religion/denomination(z=2.11<0.05), parental communication( z= 2.86<0.05), fear of stigmatization( z=2.05<0.05), and age of service provider(z= 1.96<0.05) were positive and significantly related to the utilization of reproductive health services among rural adolescents. Furthermore, the findings revealed a negative perception of the attitude of service providers among respondents with a grand mean of ( =3. 42), the perceived need was high with a grand mean of ( = 2.53), the level of satisfaction was low with a grand mean of ( = 2.38). In conclusion, utilization of the services was influenced by socio-cultural factors related to rural adolescents. It is therefore recommended that Government should collaborate with some other non-governmental agencies to establish adolescent-friendly health clinics, South-east stakeholders to engage media and mobile approach services in promoting available reproductive health services, there is the need to train more health service providers who are youths,  Federal Ministry of Health should collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Education to make reproductive health services an integral contents of Health Education and Biology subjects in school.