ASSESSMENTOFYOUTHPARENTCOMMUNICATIONONSEXUALAND REPRODUCTIVEHEALTHISSUESANDASSOCIATEDFACTORSAMONG HIGHSCHOOLSTUDENTSOFPASTORALCOMMUNITIES,WEST HARERGEZONE,OROMIA,ETHIOPIA,2025

Abstract

Background:Effecti veparent-youthcommunicationaboutsexualandreproductive healthplaysapivotalroleinreducingriskybehaviorsandpromotinginformed decision-maki ngamongyouths.Whilethisiscrucialgloball faceuniquechallenges,i ncludingculturalbarri y,pastoralcommunities ers,geographi cisolati on,andlimited healthcareaccessthatexacerbatesexualandreproducti vehealthcommunication gaps.Thisstudyexaminessexualandreproductivehealthcommunicationpatterns andassociatedfactorsamonghighschoolstudentsinpastoralcommunitiesof MiesoWoreda,Oromia,Ethiopia. Objective:Toassessthemagnitudeofyouth-parentcommunicationonsexualand reproducti vehealthissuesandassociatedfactorsamonghighschoolstudentsof pastoralcommunitiesatMiesoWoreda,westHaregeZone,Oromia,Ethiopi a,2024. MethodsandMaterials:Across-sectionalstudywasconductedatMiesoWoreda highschoolsfrom November30toDecember7,2024,usingastratifiedrandom samplingmethodtoselectparticipants.Atotalof320highschoolstudentswere intervi ewedwithapretestedquestionnaire.ThedatawasenteredintoEpi.Data managerandexportedthananalyzedusingSTATAversion14.Variablesshowinga connectioninbivari ableanalyseswithaP-valuelessthan0.25ata95%confidence intervalwereexportedtomul tivari ablelogisti cregression,andaP-valueoflessthan 0.05wasconsideredsignifi cant. Results:Thestudyincl uded320studentswitha100%responserate.Themeanage oftherespondentswas20years(S.D.=±1.89)withamaximumandminimumof23 and17yearsold,respectivel y.About60.3%ofparentscommunicatedtwoormore SRHtopicswiththeirchildreni nthepastyear.Signifi cantpredictorsi parentalSRHknowledge(AOR=5.14,95%CI:1.42-18.64),urbanresi 95%CI:1.19-15.07),andfemal ncludedwere dence(AOR=4.24, egender(AOR=0.03,95%CI:0.003-0.325). Conclusion:Youth-parentCommunicati ononsexualandreproductivehealthissues VII wasmoderate.Thus,theMinistryofhealth,education,and otherconcerned stakeholdersworki nginareasofsexualandreproductivehealthshouldfocuson enhancing parentalSRH knowledge,addressing rural-urban inequities,anovercominggender-basedcommunicationbarri ersinpastoralcommuniti es