Confl Health. 2010 Mar 25;4:5. doi: 10.1186/1752-1505-4-5.
Of the 140,000 Burmese* refugees living in camps in Thailand, 30% are youths aged 15-24. Health services in these camps do not specifically target young people and their problems and needs are poorly understood. This study aimed to assess their reproductive health issues and quality of life, and identifies appropriate service needs.
We used a stratified two-stage random sample questionnaire survey of 397 young people 15-24 years from 5,183 households, and 19 semi-structured qualitative interviews to assess and explore health and quality of life issues.
The young people in the camps had very limited knowledge of reproductive health issues; only about one in five correctly answered at least one question on reproductive health. They were clear that they wanted more reproductive health education and services, to be provided by health workers rather than parents or teachers who were not able to give them the information they needed. Marital status was associated with sexual health knowledge; having relevant knowledge of reproductive health was up to six times higher in married compared to unmarried youth, after adjusting for socio-economic and demographic factors. Although condom use was considered important, in practice a large proportion of respondents felt too embarrassed to use them. There was a contradiction between moral views and actual behaviour; more than half believed they should remain virgins until marriage, while over half of the youth experienced sex before marriage. Two thirds of women were married before the age of 18, but two third felt they did not marry at the right age. Forced sex was considered acceptable by one in three youth. The youth considered their quality of life to be poor and limited due to confinement in the camps, the limited work opportunities, the aid dependency, the unclear future and the boredom and unhappiness they face.
The long conflict in Myanmar and the resultant long stay in refugee camps over decades affect the wellbeing of these young people. Lack of sexual health education and relevant services, and their concerns for their future are particular problems, which need to be addressed. Issues of education, vocational training and job possibilities also need to be considered.*Burmese is used for all ethnic groups.
在泰国难民营中生活着 14 万名缅甸*难民，其中 30%是 15-24 岁的青少年。这些难民营中的卫生服务并未专门针对年轻人及其问题和需求，因此对这些问题和需求的了解甚少。本研究旨在评估他们的生殖健康问题和生活质量，并确定适当的服务需求。
我们使用分层两阶段随机抽样问卷调查了来自 5183 户家庭的 397 名 15-24 岁的年轻人，还进行了 19 次半结构化定性访谈，以评估和探讨健康和生活质量问题。
难民营中的年轻人对生殖健康问题的了解非常有限；只有大约五分之一的人至少能正确回答一个关于生殖健康的问题。他们明确表示希望获得更多的生殖健康教育和服务，希望由卫生工作者提供，而不是由无法为他们提供所需信息的父母或教师提供。婚姻状况与性健康知识相关；在调整了社会经济和人口统计学因素后，已婚青年的生殖健康相关知识的知晓率比未婚青年高 6 倍。虽然避孕套的使用被认为很重要，但实际上很大一部分受访者觉得使用避孕套很尴尬。道德观念和实际行为之间存在矛盾；超过一半的人认为他们应该保持童贞直到结婚，但超过一半的年轻人在婚前有过性行为。三分之二的女性在 18 岁之前结婚，但三分之二的人觉得自己结婚的年龄不合适。三分之一的年轻人认为强迫性行为是可以接受的。年轻人认为他们的生活质量很差，受到限制，原因是被困在难民营中，工作机会有限，依赖援助，未来不确定，以及他们面临的无聊和不快乐。
缅甸长期冲突和几十年的难民生活对这些年轻人的福祉产生了影响。缺乏性健康教育和相关服务，以及对未来的担忧是特别需要解决的问题。教育、职业培训和工作机会等问题也需要考虑。*“Burmese”用于所有族群。
