Assessing the choice of sources of information on sexual and reproductive health issues among adolescents

Background: Access to the right information from credible sources on
sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues is germane to smooth and
healthy transition from childhood to adulthood among adolescents with or
without disabilities. Despite the large amount of research focused on
adolescents aged 15-19 years, adolescents with disabilities, particularly
those with visual impairment have received little attention. This study
aims to assess the sources of information on SRH issues among adolescents
with visually impairment (AVI) and adolescents without visual impairments
(AWVI). Methods: A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 394
AVI and AWVI in-school adolescents aged 15-19 years from two government
boarding schools in Owo local government area of Ondo state, Nigeria.
Quantitative Data were collected using the Open Data Kit (ODK). Data
analyses were done using descriptive and Binary Logistics regression.
Results: The available sources  of information on SRH issues
among in-school adolescents include school teachers, parents, siblings and
other family members among others. Of all the available sources of
information, the most important and the most preferred sources of
information were school teachers, parents, siblings and other family
members. However, the AVI preferred to receive more information on puberty
and Sexual and Reproductive (SR) system from their most important sources
(school teachers and parents); while the AWVI preferred getting more
information on puberty from parents and more information on SR system from
school teachers. While most of the AVI preferred to receive more
information on boy/girlfriend relationship from school teachers and
parents, majority of the AWVI preferred to receive more of such
information from their parents. Significant difference exists only in the
most preferred source of information on boy/girlfriend relationship
between the AVI and AWVI (p<0.05). Furthermore, results from the
binary Logistics regression showed that,  AWVI were significantly
less likely to have received information on SRH issues from their
preferred sources than their AVI counterparts (OR:0.460; CI:0.273-0.777).
Female adolescents were significantly more likely to have received
information from their preferred sources than their male counterparts
(OR:1.592; CI:1.016-2.496). Also, adolescents having mothers aged 40-49
were more than twice as likely as those whose mothers were younger to have
received information from their preferred sources (OR:2.220;
CI:1.150-4.286). Conclusion: Making information on SRH issues available
and accessible to adolescents generally and those with visual impairment
in particular in formats that take their disabilities into account, will
go a long way to ensuring their smooth and healthy transition to
adulthood.