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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Reprod. Health
Sec. Adolescent Reproductive Health and Well-being
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1519024
Reproductive health problem among youths and associated factors in Dilla town, Southern Ethiopia
Provisionally accepted- 1 Debrebirhan University, Debrebirhan, Ethiopia
- 2 Dilla University, Dilla, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Introduction: Adolescents are defined by the World Health Organization as people aged 10 to 19, youth 15 to 24, and young people 10 to 24. Youth are a demographic that experiences lifethreatening physical, emotional, mental, and social changes. Most young individuals are therefore more vulnerable to reproductive health problems than adults for a number of reasons.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was done in Dilla town between January and March 2024 with 536 youths. A survey of houses with young people was followed by the use of a systematic sampling technique. Data was gathered using pretested and structured questionnaires.Coded and entered into EPI INFO version 7 after being verified for completeness, it was then exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. Both multivariate and bivariate logistic regression were performed. Variables with a p-value < 0.2 in bi-variable logistic regression were moved to multivariable logistic regression, and variables with a p-value of < 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression were considered statistically significant. Result: A total of 493 youths participated in this study, with a response rate of 92%. Among them, 271 (55%) of them were under the age group of 21-25 years old, 225 (45.6%) were females, and 214 (43.4%) were protestants. The overall youth reproductive health problem in Dilla town is 66.1% (95% CI: 62.5-70.4). Being in the age category 21-25 (AOR: 8.52; 95% CI: 4.61-15.76), employed (AOR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.09-4.13), ashamed to discuss sexual issues (AOR: 6.66; 95% CI: 3.79-11.71), having multiple sexual partners (AOR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.08-3.73), not using condoms (AOR: 4.05; 95% CI: 2.31-7.11), health facility inconvenience (AOR: 3.2; 95% CI: 1.85-5.55), and drinking alcohol (AOR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.29-3.99) were found to be significantly associated with youth reproductive health problems. Healthcare facilities should provide comprehensive, age appropriate, and accurate sexual education as part of specialized reproductive health services for youth that prioritize privacy and nonjudgmental treatment. In addition, screening and early detection of RH problems and engaging in community outreach programs are some of the recommended activities.
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, AOR: Adjusted Odd Ratio, CI: confidence interval, COR: Crude Odd Ratio, HI: Health Institution, HIV: Human Immune-Deficiency Virus, NGO: Non-Governmental Organization, OR: odds ratio
Received: 29 Oct 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sertsewold and Zenebe. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Seblewongel Gebretsadik Sertsewold, Debrebirhan University, Debrebirhan, Ethiopia
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