Department of Public Health, Central Institute of Science and Technology (CIST) College, Pokhara University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Department of Public Health, Asian College for Advance Studies, Purbanchal University, Satdobato, Lalitpur, Nepal.
PLoS One. 2023 Jul 25;18(7):e0289116. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289116. eCollection 2023.
Parental knowledge about sexual and reproductive health issues and adequate communication with their adolescent on these issues are crucial in promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Although there are evidence on adolescent perceptions of their sexual health issues, research on parental perspectives of adolescent sexual health and parent-adolescent communication about sexual health issues in Nepal remains unexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to assess parental knowledge and communication practice about sexual and reproductive health with their adolescent children in Lalitpur Metropolitan City of Nepal.
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2019 among randomly selected 308 parents of adolescents (aged 10-19 years) residing in Lalitpur Metropolitan City of Nepal. Face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires were conducted to collect the data. The collected data were entered into EpiData software v3.1, and data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows Version 21.0 (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY, USA). The statistical significance was considered at a p-value <0.05 and a 95% confidence interval (CI).
Of 308 parents, one-third of parents were found to have correct knowledge about safe abortion, menstrual hygiene and management, modern contraceptives, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, wet dreams among male adolescents, abstaining from sexual intercourse during the fertile period, and the possibility of a male adolescent to impregnate a girl. In addition, only 40.9% of parents were found to have communicated with their adolescent children about sexual and reproductive health issues. Parents who have knowledge about puberty (aOR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2-3.9), belong to Bharamin/Chhetri ethnic group (aOR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1-2.2), self-employed (aOR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3-4.0), having two or more adolescent children (aOR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1-3.6), and whose adolescent children were staying in school hostel (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI:1.0-3.0) were more likely to have parental communication about sexual and reproductive health with their adolescent children.
Most parents do not communicate with their adolescent children on sexual health topics, although they feel sexual health education is essential to adolescents. The majority of parents were found inadequately aware of adolescent sexual health issues. It is crucial to have contextual interventions that would encourage parent-adolescent communication on sexual health matters in an integrated way to promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
父母对性与生殖健康问题的了解以及与青少年就这些问题进行充分沟通，对于促进青少年性与生殖健康至关重要。尽管已有研究证实了青少年对自身性健康问题的认知，但尼泊尔在父母对青少年性健康的看法以及父母与青少年就性健康问题进行沟通方面的研究仍有待探索。因此，本研究旨在评估尼泊尔勒利德布尔大都市的父母对其青少年子女的性与生殖健康知识和沟通实践。
本研究于 2019 年 1 月至 3 月间，在尼泊尔勒利德布尔大都市中，采用整群随机抽样方法，对 308 名年龄在 10-19 岁的青少年的父母进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究。采用面对面访谈的方式，利用结构化问卷收集数据。将收集的数据录入 EpiData 软件 v3.1，并使用 IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows Version 21.0（IBM 公司，美国纽约州阿蒙克市）进行数据分析。以 p 值<0.05 和 95%置信区间（CI）为标准，判断统计显著性。
在 308 名父母中，有三分之一的父母对安全堕胎、经期卫生和管理、现代避孕药具、预防性传播感染、男青少年的梦遗、在女性排卵期避免性行为以及男青少年使女孩怀孕的可能性等问题具有正确的认识。此外，仅有 40.9%的父母与他们的青少年子女就性与生殖健康问题进行了沟通。对于性成熟（优势比[OR] = 2.2，95%CI：1.2-3.9）、属于婆罗门/切特里种姓（OR = 1.2，95%CI：1.1-2.2）、自雇（OR：2.4，95%CI：1.3-4.0）、有两个或更多青少年子女（OR = 2.0，95%CI：1.1-3.6）以及子女住校的父母（OR = 1.7，95%CI：1.0-3.0），他们更有可能与青少年子女就性与生殖健康进行沟通。
尽管大多数父母认为青少年性健康教育很有必要，但他们却很少与子女就性健康问题进行沟通。大多数父母对青少年性健康问题的认识不足。有必要采取相应的干预措施，以鼓励父母与青少年以综合的方式就性健康问题进行沟通，从而促进青少年的性与生殖健康。
