| dc.description.abstract | Objective: To determine the social factors associated with long-acting reversible
contraceptives (LARCS) use among adolescent girls aged 17-19 years at Gatundu
KMTC campus.
Design: analytical cross-sectional.
Settings: Kenya Medical Training College Gatundu Campus (KMTC).
Population: 500 adolescent girls aged 17-19 years at Kenya Medical Training
College Gatundu Campus.
Main outcome measures: Age, marital status, home region, religion, culture, social
influence and health care workers unfavourable attitudes effects LARCS use by
the study participants.
Method: Analytical cross-sectional study design.
Materials: A sample of 238 subjects was randomly selected from a population of
500 adolescent girls aged 17-19 years at Gatundu KMTC and a semi-structured self
administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Quantitative data was
analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics via statistical package for
social sciences (SPSS) version 25. Chi square tests and Multivariate logistic
regression analysis was conducted to assess factors associated with uptake of long
acting reversible contraceptives methods.
Results: Majority (35.5%, n=84) of the subjects attributed LARCs non-use to
religion, less than half 49% n=117 used LARCs without influence, (16.7%, n=40) did
not use due to social influence,26.8% marital status and (34.2%, n=78) due to culture
n=38). On cross-tabulation, marital status (p=0.002) and social influence (p= 0.029)
were strongly associated with LARCs use. Conclusion: Inaccessibility and unavailability of LARCs to adolescents, as well as
the perception of unfavourable attitudes among healthcare professionals, were the
factors in the low use of LARCs. A multi-sectoral strategy on contraceptives should
be deployed to increase the uptake of LARCs. | en_US |
