Reproductive knowledge, and contraceptive awareness and practice among secondary school pupils in Bagamoyo and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

Reproductive knowledge, and contraceptive awareness and practice were assessed among secondary school pupils in Bagamoyo and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Four classes from four government secondary schools were randomly selected within strata of year of schooling, and students were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. All 490 pupils in selected classes participated in the study. Of 481 respondents with complete data, 315 (65.5 pc) were males and 166 (34.5 pc) were females; 256 (53.2 pc) were from Dar-es-Salaam while 225 (46.8 pc) were from Bagamoyo. Two hundred and ninety three (60.9 pc) respondents reported they were sexually active. However, only 77 (17.0 pc) pupils knew the "safe period" within the menstrual cycle and 329 (68.4 pc) pupils were able to spontaneously mention at least one method of contraception. Less contraceptive awareness was noted among respondents below 18 years of age particularly among females in both study areas. Only 45 (15.4 pc) pupils had ever used a contraceptive method. Despite a reasonable level of awareness and a positive attitude towards contraception, only a small proportion of sexually active pupils had ever used contraceptives. More research is required to identify the barriers to contraceptive use in the presence of knowledge.