[Contraceptive knowledge and practice among young people aged 15 – 24, in Burkina Faso].
- Public Health Research
According to WHO, the use of contraception has significantly more health benefits than risks. However, young people's access to contraception remains a public health issue. This study aimed to assess contraceptive knowledge and practices among young people in Bobo-Dioulasso and identify the impediments to contraceptive use.
This is a quantitative research that investigated the pattern of risky sexual behaviour and associated factors among 573 young people aged between 15 and 24, from the three districts of Bobo-Dioulasso. The participants were selected by cluster sampling in two stages. The significance threshold was set at 0.05.
Almost the totality (99.3%) of our sample knew at least one modern contraceptive method. Although nearly 84.0% of them were living with their parents or with older adults, only 28.6 % of sexually active respondents (or their partners) had used contraception at the first sexual intercourse. We found out that young people use condoms at the beginning of the relationship, then shift to pills as the relation becomes stable. The older the surveyed the more likely they were to have used contraception in the last twelve months.
It is urgent to focus education efforts not only on knowledge but also on daily sexual practices and other hindrances. Young people also need confidentiality and free contraceptive services.