Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026

An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
Contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices among adolescent girls in a peri-urban South African community
Mbakishi Pamela1, Olufunmilayo Olukemi Akapo2, Mirabel Kah-Keh Nanjoh1
1School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa.
Objectives:
To assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to contraceptive use among adolescent girls in a peri-urban neighbourhood of Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Methods:
A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 116 adolescent girls using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 29. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise participants' demographic characteristics and contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
Results:
Most participants resided in Chris Hani Site B (83.6%) and lived with a parent (94.8%). Condoms (73.3%) were the most recognised contraceptive method, followed by injectable contraceptives (19.0%) and oral contraceptive pills (17.2%). Only 29.3% of participants demonstrated a high level of contraceptive knowledge based on the selected indicators. All participants (100%) acknowledged that contraceptive use is a personal choice and is important for preventing unintended pregnancies. Nevertheless, overall understanding was inconsistent, indicating a gap between general awareness and informed knowledge. Among the 89 sexually active participants, 84 (94.4%) reportedprevious contraceptive use.
Conclusions:
Although previous contraceptive use was high among sexually active participants, important gaps in contraceptive knowledge and understanding remained. Targeted health promotion, peer education, and community-based interventions are needed to address misinformation, stigma, and sociocultural barriers and to support informed contraceptive decision-making among adolescent girls.
Related Concept Videos
Birth Control Methods
Intrauterine Drug Delivery Systems
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
Amebiasis
Hormonal Regulation
