Adolescents' knowledge, self-efficacy, and the use of implant contraceptives in west point community, Liberia
 
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1
Institute for Collective Health, Cuttington University Graduate School, Liberia
 
2
Cuttington University Graduate School, Congo Town, Liberia
 
 
Publication date: 2023-04-27
 
 
Popul. Med. 2023;5(Supplement):A1171
 
ABSTRACT
Background: Implant contraceptives are available for free in public health facilities and selected private clinics in most communities in Liberia for the purpose of controlling and preventing unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. Despite the freely available contraceptives, adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19 years still conceive. As a result, nearly 26% of adolescents unintentionally become pregnant, and 30% of pregnancies end in unsafe abortions. Objective: The aim of this study was realized through the following objectives: 1. What is the extent of knowledge of adolescents on implant contraceptive use? 2. What is the extent of self-efficacy of adolescents on implant contraceptive use? 3. What is the extent of implant contraceptive use among adolescents? Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was distributed to 294 female adolescents using stratified and simple random sampling. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Means and Standard deviations were used to determine the extent of knowledge, self-efficacy, and implant contraceptive use among adolescents. Results: Nearly over half (52.2%) of the 294 surveyed female adolescents demonstrated having fair knowledge of the use of implant contraceptives. An estimated 41% of these respondents believed that implant contraceptive causes infection. Adolescents’ motivation (self-efficacy) towards implant contraceptives use was low (overall mean of 2.29). The extent of adolescents’ use of implant contraceptives was also low. Respondents that have used implant contraceptives recorded the least mean (2.38) which is interpreted as low for implant contraceptives. Conclusions: These findings point out a huge gap in knowledge and self-efficacy levels of adolescents as well as their use of implant contraceptives. Hence, there is an urgent need for Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) education programming, with a focus on the importance of implant contraceptives in the West Point Community in Liberia.
ISSN:2654-1459
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