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Use of the Internet as a source for reproductive health information seeking among adolescent girls in secondary schools in Enugu, Nigeria
Author(s) -
Ibegbulam Ijeoma J.,
Akpom Chinwendu C.,
Enem Fidelia N.,
Onyam Dora I.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
health information and libraries journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1471-1842
pISSN - 1471-1834
DOI - 10.1111/hir.12242
Subject(s) - the internet , reproductive health , abstinence , information seeking , premarital sex , medicine , information seeking behavior , health information , adolescent health , psychology , medical education , demography , family medicine , population , environmental health , nursing , psychiatry , library science , health care , political science , sociology , world wide web , computer science , law
Background Adolescent female students should be provided opportunities to access reproductive health information to navigate this period of development successfully. Examining the use of the Internet for accessing reproductive health information by this group will provide useful information on their information needs and seeking behaviour. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the use of the Internet for reproductive health information among adolescent female students in secondary schools in Enugu, Nigeria. Method This descriptive study was conducted on adolescent female students in six secondary schools in Enugu urban. Data were collected using a self‐administered questionnaire. A total of 120 adolescent female students participated in the study. Findings The adolescent female students use the Internet to seek for information on general see education ( n = 120, 100%), sexual hygiene ( n = 71, 59%), abstinence from premarital sex ( n = 68, 57%), avoidance of sexual abuse ( n = 67, 56%). Their preference for the Internet include its privacy ( n = 115, 96%) and wealth of information ( n = 111, 92%). Conclusions Adolescent female students use the Internet to meet their reproductive health information needs. Access to the Internet should be enhanced for this group.