Mprah Wisdom Kwadwo, Anafi Patricia, Addai Yeaboah Paul Yaw
a Lecturer, Department of Community Health , Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology , Kumasi , Ghana .
b Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health , State University of New York-Potsdam , Potsdam , USA.
Reprod Health Matters. 2017 May;25(50):20-30. doi: 10.1080/09688080.2017.1332450.
Having a good knowledge of family planning methods is vital for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality resulting from unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. In this paper, we highlight deaf people's ability to discern various misconceptions about pregnancy, with the aim of assessing their level of knowledge on pregnancy prevention methods. The article is derived from a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs assessment involving participants residing in two cities and a senior high school in Ghana. The needs assessment involved three focus groups with 26 participants, a survey with 152 respondents, and an interview with one health professional. Apart from the health professional, all the remaining participants were deaf people. Findings from the study indicated that more than half the participants lacked familiarity with pregnancy prevention methods. The findings of this study confirm other studies that there is a general lack of knowledge on SRH issues among deaf people in Ghana. Thus, although this study focused on prevention of unwanted pregnancy, which is just one component of SRH issues, the study provides insights into the broader SRH needs of the deaf community and calls for making these issues visible for policy-making.
了解计划生育方法对于降低意外怀孕和不安全堕胎导致的孕产妇发病率和死亡率至关重要。在本文中，我们强调聋人辨别各种关于怀孕的误解的能力，旨在评估他们对避孕方法的了解程度。本文源自一项性与生殖健康（SRH）需求评估，涉及居住在加纳两个城市和一所高中的参与者。需求评估包括三个焦点小组（共26名参与者）、一项针对152名受访者的调查以及与一名卫生专业人员的访谈。除卫生专业人员外，其余参与者均为聋人。研究结果表明，超过一半的参与者不熟悉避孕方法。本研究结果证实了其他研究的结论，即加纳聋人群体普遍缺乏性与生殖健康问题的相关知识。因此，尽管本研究聚焦于预防意外怀孕，而这只是性与生殖健康问题的一个方面，但该研究为深入了解聋人群体更广泛的性与生殖健康需求提供了见解，并呼吁让这些问题在政策制定中得到关注。
