Obasi Mercy, Manortey Stephen, Kyei Kofi Adesi, Addo Michael Kwabeng, Talboys Sharon, Gay Lynette, Baiden Frank
Department of Public Health, University of Utah, West Africa Campus, Kpong, Ghana.
Department of Radiography, School of Biomedical & Allied Health Sciences, Accra, Ghana.
Pan Afr Med J. 2019 Aug 14;33:299. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2019.33.299.18546. eCollection 2019.
Persons with disabilities have the same sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs as the abled people but they often face barriers to SRH information and services which are necessary for healthy and safe relationships, protection from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study sought to access the SRH services among adolescents with disabilities in four Special Needs Schools in Ghana.
The study adopted a cross-sectional study design with a quantitative approach to data collection between the months of January to March, 2018. A structured and pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from adolescents with disabilities from selected schools in Ghana. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression.
Majority of participants had hearing disability (52.1%). The average age at menarche among females was 13 years whiles the age at which puberty was attained among boys was 14 years. School teachers were the major source of information on SRH for the respondents (63.7%) followed by parents (12.2%). A majority (67.1%) of respondents had good knowledge of SRH. Factors which were significantly associated with knowledge level were age (p=0.026), religion (p=0.034), sources of information (p<0.001), guardians (p=0.049).
The majority of participants had good knowledge of SRH, although their knowledge of contraceptive and access were poor. Only condoms were mostly known. There is the need for increased awareness on the availability of other contraceptives methods and the removal of barriers to contraceptive methods.
残疾人与健全人有着相同的性与生殖健康（SRH）需求，但他们在获取SRH信息和服务方面常常面临障碍，而这些信息和服务对于建立健康安全的关系、预防艾滋病毒和其他性传播感染（STIs）至关重要。本研究旨在了解加纳四所特殊需求学校中残疾青少年的SRH服务情况。
本研究采用横断面研究设计，于2018年1月至3月期间采用定量方法收集数据。使用一份经过结构化和预测试的问卷，从加纳选定学校的残疾青少年中收集数据。使用卡方检验和多变量逻辑回归进行描述性和推断性统计分析。
大多数参与者有听力障碍（52.1%）。女性初潮的平均年龄为13岁，而男性达到青春期的年龄为14岁。学校教师是受访者SRH信息的主要来源（63.7%），其次是父母（12.2%）。大多数（67.1%）受访者对SRH有良好的了解。与知识水平显著相关的因素有年龄（p = 0.026）、宗教（p = 0.034）、信息来源（p < 0.001）、监护人（p = 0.049）。
大多数参与者对SRH有良好的了解，尽管他们对避孕方法及其获取途径的了解较差。只有避孕套最为人所知。有必要提高对其他避孕方法可用性的认识，并消除避孕方法的获取障碍。
