Determinants of adolescent fertility in Ghana

Adolescence is a critical transitional period in everyon

Ghanaian Male Adolescents’ Knowledge about Female Fertile Period

Male adolescents seem to be excluded from pregnancy prevention programmes although they play a major role in sexual intercourse initiation. Information on the sociodemographic dynamics of male adolescents’ knowledge about the female fertile period is currently virtually non-existent. This paper examines the level of knowledge and the sociodemographic factors that affect knowledge about female fertile period among male adolescents in Ghana. This study is based on secondary data from the 2004 National Survey of Adolescents (NSA) of Ghana, which included 1,137 respondents. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors affecting respondents’ knowledge about the female fertile period. The result shows that about 70% of male adolescents reported that they have a knowledge about the fertile period of a woman’s menstrual cycle. However, only 14.2% of them correctly identified the specific fertile period within the female menstrual cycle. Knowledge about the female fertile period was significantly related to the age of respondent (p<0.008), level of education (p<0.002), attendance of sex education classes (p<0.007), and region of residence (p<0.002) of respondents. In a nutshell, the level of accurate knowledge about the female fertile period is quite low among male adolescents in Ghana, and this is affected by some sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. It is, therefore, essential to develop health and family life education programmes for adolescents, particularly the males, to empower them through knowledge about sexual and reproductive health matters

Prostate Cancer Knowledge, Perceptions and Screening Behaviour among Male University Students in Ghana

Inadequate literature exists on knowledge and perception of prostate cancer and screening behaviour particularly among male tertiary students in Ghana. This paper sought to examine prostate cancer knowledge, perceptions and screening behaviour among male students in the University of Cape Coast and Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in Ghana. Using a cross-sectional survey design for the study, systematic and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select 438 participants for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. The study revealed that the participants lacked knowledge on key risk factors and symptoms of prostate cancer. However, the majority of the participants had a quite correct perception of prostate cancer. Also, the participants had a poor screening behaviour for prostate cancer. The University Health Services should promote regular and effective prostate cancer sensitisation programmes for students particularly the males

Harsh Working Conditions and Poor Eating Habits: Health-Related Concerns of Female Head Porters (Kayayei) in the Mallam Atta Market, Accra, Ghana

Background. The kaya business is known to pose significant health-related risks to female migrants. This study sought to explore the health-related concerns of female head porters in the Mallam Atta market, Accra, Ghana. Methods. A qualitative study was conducted in which twenty female head porters at the Mallam Atta market in Accra were interviewed. A thematic analysis was performed and the emerging themes were presented and supported with quotations from the respondents. Results. Poor accommodation and eating habits, harsh working conditions, and lack of knowledge about health conditions exposed the respondents to several health-related concerns like neck pains, skin rashes, malaria, cholera, and stomach ache among other infections. The popular means of seeking health care was through purchasing drugs from pharmacies or drug peddlers instead of health facilities. Financial constraints, lack of faith in the National Health Insurance Scheme, and long waiting periods at the health facilities militated against seeking appropriate health care at the hospitals and clinics. Conclusion. Political willpower needs to be strengthened for poverty reduction strategies such as training of hairdressing, dress and soap making, and shea butter processing for women from the Northern regions in order to ameliorate their livelihoods and/or reduce migration to the south

"I always tried to forget about the condition and pretend I was healed": coping with cervical cancer in rural Ghana

BioMed Central open acces