Open AccessKnowledge, attitude, and practice of abortion among female students of two public senior secondary schools in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area, Lagos State
Author(s) -
A. O. Abiola,
Oluwabunmi A Oke,
Mobolanle Balogun,
F.A. Olatona,
Maymunah A. Adegbesan-Omilabu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2468-6859
pISSN - 2408-7408
DOI - 10.4103/2408-7408.179682
Subject(s) - abortion , state (computer science) , mainland , government (linguistics) , local government area , medical education , mainland china , political science , local government , medicine , geography , family medicine , public administration , china , pregnancy , law , linguistics , philosophy , genetics , archaeology , algorithm , computer science , biology
Background: Unsafe abortion is a public health concern because of its dire reproductive health consequences and impact on maternal morbidity and mortality. Tackling this problem will go a long way toward achieving one of the Millennium Developmental Goals, which aim to reduce overall maternal mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of abortion and the factors associated with it among female students of two public senior secondary schools in Mainland Local Government Area, Lagos state. Materials and Methods: This was designed as a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The multistage sampling method was used to select 210 respondents. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using the EPI Info software. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, knowledge about abortion, attitudes toward abortion, and the practice of abortion. The responses to the knowledge and attitude questions were scored and graded as good (≥50%) and poor (<50%). Results: The response rate was 98%. The mean age of the respondents was 15.6 1.3 years. The majority (83.3%) of the respondents had good knowledge of abortion; almost all (99.2%) demonstrated poor attitude toward abortion; and only a few (2%) had ever had an abortion. There was a statistically significant association between the ages of the respondents and their knowledge of abortion (P = 0.004) as well as their attitude toward abortion (P = 0.03). Conclusion: The respondents showed good knowledge of abortion, poor attitude toward abortion, and a low of practice of abortion. There is, therefore, a need to improve and sustain the existing knowledge and attitudes toward abortion so as to reduce the practice of abortion among students of the two schools