%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence of Sexual Activity and Outcome among Female Secondary School Students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
%A IC Anochie
%A EE Ikpeme
%J African Journal of Reproductive Health
%D 2001
%I Women's Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC)
%X Sexual activity among 534 Nigerian female secondary school students was studied using self-administered questionnaire. Prevalence of sexual intercourse was 25.7%. There was no significant difference between the junior (48.2%) and senior (51.8%) students (p > 0.05). Seventeen (12.4%) students had initiated sexual intercourse before 11 years. The frequency of sexual exposure was high, with 34.3% of the students having intercourse more than once in a week. Pregnancy rate among sexually active females was 27.0%, with 24.8% rate of induced abortion. Early sexual health education starting from primary school would be helpful in influencing the reproductive decisions and sexual behaviour of the students, including contraceptive acceptance and usage, to avoid teenage pregnancy. Education of parents is also recommended in order to overcome the cultural barriers that discourage parents from providing sex education to their children at home. (Afr J Reprod Health 2001; 5[2]:63-67) R¨¦SUM¨¦ Pr¨¦valence de l'activit¨¦ sexuelle et ses cons¨¦quences chez les ¨¦tudiantes du secondaire ¨¤ Port Harcourt, Nigeria. L'activit¨¦ sexuelle chez 534 ¨¦tudiantes du secondaire a ¨¦t¨¦ ¨¦tudi¨¦e ¨¤ l'aide des auto-questionnaires. La pr¨¦valence de l'acte sexuel ¨¦tait de 25,7%. Il n'y avait pas de diff¨¦rence importante entre les ¨¦tudiantes des petites classes (48,2%) et celles des grandes classes (51,8%) (p < 0,05). Dix-sept ¨¦tudiantes s'¨¦taient initi¨¦es ¨¤ l'acte sexuel avant l'age de 11 ans. La fr¨¦quence de l'acte sexuel ¨¦tait ¨¦lev¨¦e. 34,4% des ¨¦tudiantes avaient des rapports sexuels plus d'une fois par semaine. Le taux de grossesse chez les filles sexuellement actives ¨¦tait de 27% alors que le taux de l'avortement provoqu¨¦ ¨¦tait de 24,8%. Les initiations ¨¤ l'¨¦ducation de la sant¨¦ ¨¤ partir de l'¨¦cole primaire seront utiles pour influencer les d¨¦cisions sur la sant¨¦ reproductive et le comportement sexuel des ¨¦tudiants y compris l'acceptation et l'utilisation de la contraceptive pour ¨¦viter la grossesse chez les adolescentes. Nous pr¨¦conisons le renseignment de parents comme moyen de ma triser les obstacles culturels qui d¨¦couragent les parents d'assurer l'¨¦ducation sexuelle ¨¤ leurs enfants ¨¤ la maison. (Rev Afr Sant¨¦ Reprod 2001; 5[2]: 63-67) KEY WORDS: Female, secondary students, sexual activity, pregnancy, abortion, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
%U http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/7681