Publication Details
Abstract
A critical look at our society today exposes a disturbing trend in sexual activities among adolescents. Knowledge of family planning is a prerequisite to its utilization. This study examined the knowledge of fertility awareness-based methods of faming planning among Senior Secondary pupils in Okrika Kingdom of Rivers State. The descriptive cross sectional design was used with a population which comprised 5,087 senior secondary students in Okrika Kingdom. The sample size was 408 which was determined using the Taro Yamane formula: n = N/1+N(e)2. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted to select the participants. The research instrument for this study was a questionnaire designed titled “knowledge of fertility awareness based method rating scale (KFABMRS)”, with a reliability coefficient of 0.81. Data was collected by administering the questionnaire to the respondents physically. The completed copies of the questionnaire were collated, coded and analysed using mean and Point Biseral at 0.05 Alpha level. The result showed on that, overall, less than half 186(46.6%) were knowledgeable about FABMs while 213(53.4%) were not knowledgeable about FABMs of family planning. The result showed that more of those aged 10-14 years and 15-19 years had averaged knowledge 42.6% and 48.7% respectively. High knowledge was found more among the Christians (35.1%) followed by the Muslims (13.3%). There was a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of FABMS of family planning, and age (n = 399, r = 0.35, p = 0.00). It was concluded that there was a fair knowledge of fertility awareness-based methods among senior secondary students, which was linked directly to the religious affiliation of the students. It was recommended among others that, the ministry of health and health educators should embark on Fertility Awareness Based Methods awareness campaign to secondary schools especially in the rural areas.