Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Induced Abortion and Associated Factors among Female students in Yebu Secondary School, Jimma zone, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Induced abortion is considered to be the intentional termination of pregnancy before the fetus can live independently which might be in unsafe manner. Unsafe abortion is one of the three leading causes of maternal mortality globally. In Africa, unsafe abortion accounts for more than a quarter of causes for maternal deaths. Ethiopia is one of the east African countries with highest incidence of unsafe abortion. Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess knowledge, Attitude and Practice of female students at Yebu secondary school towards induced abortion and associated factors. Method: Cross-sectional study was conducted in Yebu secondary school female students from May to June, 2016. The students were selected by systemic random sampling technique. The data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS software. Chi-square (χ2) test was used to look for association of variables. Results: More than half, 110 (55.5%), of respondents knew at least one methods of abortion and 188 (94.9%) of them knew at least one type of abortion complication. From the total respondents 32 (16.2%) of them had sexual intercourse at least once. Only 5(2.5%) of respondents had induced abortion before. Marital status and family income has statistical association with knowledge towards induced abortion. Conclusion: More than 70% of the respondents were lacking knowledge and had negative attitude towards induced abortion. Therefore, it would be better to disseminate health education to increase awareness and knowledge regarding induced abortion.