Determinants of the utilization of youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in public secondary schools of Kogi State, Nigeria: an explorative study

BACKGROUND: This study explored the factors associated with the utilization of Youth-Friendly Sexual Reproductive Health (YFSRH) services among school-going Nigerian adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed a mixed method involving school-going students attending five public secondary schools in Kogi State, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the patterns of utilisation of YFSRH services, whereas inferential statistics were performed to determine factors associated with utilization of YFSRH services. Qualitative data were analysed by thematic analyses of records using an inductive analysis. RESULTS: One in two secondary school-going students had used the YFSRH services. Most of the participants had poor awareness of YFSRH services and limited access to YFSRH services. While gender positively predicted the utilisation of YFSRH services among secondary school-going students (aOR = 5.7; 95% CI: 2.4–8.95, p = 0.001), we found that age (aOR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.67–0.99, p = < 0.001), and religious beliefs (aOR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.77–0.93, p = 0.001) showed a negative relationship with the utilization of YFSRH services. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the influence of gender, age, and religion on utilizing YFSRH services. This study recommends the inclusion of sexuality education into secondary school-going student’s curricula, in order to create awareness about the benefit of utilization of sexual and reproductive health services, and this is to encourage young people to utilize the YFSRH services.