Geo-Spatial Analysis of Adolescents’ Access to and Use of Contraceptives in Osun State, Nigeria
Spatial Demography
30
Issue: 2
(11 - 2016)
Against the background of high and progressively increasing unprotected sexual activities among
adolescents generally, this study analyzes the spatial pattern of adolescents’ access to and use of
contraceptives in Osun State, Nigeria. It analyses inter and intra-city variations in the distribution of
contraceptive outlets and varying levels of access and use of contraceptives by adolescents. Also factors
that affect access to and use of contraceptives are analyzed. Primary and secondary data were used for
the study. Primary data involved the use of handheld GPS to obtain the geographic coordinates of the
contraceptive outlets and those of secondary schools. Secondary data include the analogue map of the
State collected from the State’s Ministry of Land and Physical Planning, the list of all registered
pharmacies in the study area from the State’s Ministry of Health. Also, a total of |,440 questionnaires
were administered to randomly selected adolescents to collect data on the socio-demographic
characteristics of respondents, degree of access to contraceptives, and varying types and levels of use of
contraceptives. Variation in the distribution of outlets and adolescents’ use of contraceptive was analyzed
using GIS tools. The patterns of outlets and secondary schools were mapped. The results showed that
there was concentration of contraceptive outlets in the high density residential areas (60%) than in the
medium (30%) or low (10%) density residential areas and that with Rn Values of 0.86 and 1.48
respectively for Outlets and schools, there was no spatial causation between pattern of outlets and
distribution of schools. Forty-four per cent of adolescents claimed use of contraceptive devices, while
56% did not. Fifty percent of the adolescents stated that societal disapproval is a factor that hinders their
use of contraceptives. Further result showed that there was a direct but weak relationship (r = 0.449; p
= 0.561) between the pattern of outlets and use of contraceptive in the study area. The study concluded
that to reduce the problems associated with adolescents’ reproductive health, there is the need to
improve access and right usage of contraceptives.
Keywords: Geo-spatial, Analysis, Adolescents, Contraceptives Usage
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