Knowledge and attitudes of parents towards adolescent contraception in Yirimadio, Bamako

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood, during which the individual acquires the fullness of his reproductive functions where precocious sexuality occurs with consequences such as unwanted pregnancies. The objective was to study the determinants that influence parental knowledge and attitudes towards the use of family planning (FP) services by adolescent girls in the Yirimadio health area. Material and methods: We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional study. It took place over 2 months from December 07, 2019 to February 07, 2020. Parents over the age of 30 who agreed to answer the questions were included in this study. The sample size was 305. The data was collected with the Kobo Collect app and analyzed on SPSS version 21. We obtained the consent of the respondents. Results: A total of 76.06% of parents associated FP with birth spacing and 7.54% believed that its use had health drawbacks. About 92% claimed its advantage. About 36.4% of parents affirmed the benefit of FP for adolescent girls. For 66.2% of parents, the use of FP services by adolescent girls is poor, 64% that FP has no advantage on their health and 78.09% said they have average communication with them. Conclusion: The majority of parents refuse to allow their adolescent girls to attend FP services. Faced with this situation, it would be important to put an emphasis on mobilization and IEC within the community.

Keys words: knowledge, attitude, parents, family planning, teenager, Yirimadio, Mali