Abstract:

Background: Adolescent pregnancy is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20. School girls’ pregnancy is an international disaster that affects the socio-economic welfare of countries, societies and families at large. This is due to the fact that it is one of, if not the leading cause of school-dropout for female students. Not only that the adolescent pregnancies have contributed to a lot of increased number of street children but also are highly associated with illegal abortions, septic abortions and eventually increased maternal mortality and sexually transmitted disease diseases including HIV. The study was aiming to assess the factors associated with adolescent Pregnancy among Secondary School Students in Nyamagana district, in Mwanza region in September 2021.

Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data was collected through Swahili version questionnaires including questions on knowledge on contraception, factors interfere with use of contraceptives, reproductive health source of information, Parent involvement and awareness on the effect and complication of adolescent pregnancies. A total sample size of 298 secondary school students were enrolled in the study and the data was analyzed by SPSS version 20. Ethical clearance was be sought from CUHAS/BMC research and ethical committee and permission to conduct the study was requested from the district medical officer of Nyamagana.

Results: A total of 298 adolescents from PAMBA, MWAANZA, NSUMBA and NGANZA secondary schools participated in the study with 100% response rates. 91(30.5%) students were aged 13-18 years and 207(69.5%) were above 18 years. There were 228(76.51%) females and 70(23.49%) males. Majority of students were aware of different methods of contraceptive which were 207(69.5%), however 91(30.5%) students were not knowledgeable about contraception. 268(89.9%) students have knowledge about ovulation day (fertility window) and 220 (73.8%) among them are females, this means that females have more knowledge than males. 50.3% and 37.2% of the respondents revealed that many students engage themselves early in sexual activities and behaviors due to peer pressure and ignorance respectively. In the study population 279 (93.6%) participants were aware of the bad outcomes of adolescent pregnancy, and 19 (6.4%) of them were not aware. Most of the female participants 227 (76.2%) tend to have awareness compared to male participants 52 (17.4%).

Conclusion: Reasons sighted for high incidence of Adolescent pregnancies include little knowledge on reproductive health such as contraception, poverty, ignorance and Sociocultural beliefs which restrict parents from discussing reproductive issues with their children. Lack of reproductive health education among secondary school adolescents and lack of transparency are also the factors contributing to adolescent pregnancy among secondary school students.