Knowledge, attitude and practice of adolescent girls towards reproductive health: a cross-sectional study in Turkistan region, Kazakhstan

Plain language summaryImproving adolescent girl's knowledge toward reproductive health can help them make better and informed reproductive health choices. We studied a sample of adolescent girls in Turkistan region in Kazakhstan and found that the majority of the surveyed girls have poor reproductive health. Several issues were found to negatively influence reproductive health of adolescent girls including obesity (measured by BMI), consumption of alcohol, lack of visit of reproductive healthcare experts and strained family relationships. Background: Reproductive health of adolescent females is an important health concern. Aim: To determine the impact and the knowledge, attitude and practice of female adolescents toward reproductive health. Materials & methods: This is a survey based cross-sectional study conducted in Turkistan region. Results: A total of 1250 participants were included with a mean age of 17.3 +/- 1.4 years, and >80% of the participants have completed high school. A total of 1191 girls had the onset of menarche at approximately 13.2 years old, and 85.7% reported menstrual disorder. Conclusion: There is poor knowledge and practice of reproductive health among participating adolescents. Alcohol consumption, high BMI, bad family relationships and lack of gynecological visits were found to negatively affect reproductive health.