Young people’s parental discussion about sexual and reproductive health issues and its associated factors in Awabel woreda, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia besides the very low health seeking behavior of young people, they do not have access to sexual and reproductive health information and even the existing health services are adult-centered. Furthermore, health providers are not well equipped in addressing young people sexual and reproductive health needs. Therefore, parent-young people discussion about sexual and reproductive health issues are crucial in increasing their awareness and reduces their risky sexual behaviors. This study was aimed to assess young people’s parental discussion about sexual and reproductive health issues and its associated factors in Awabel woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 781 young people aged 10–24 years in Awabel Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. A pre-tested structured interview administered questionnaire was used for the data collection. The collected data were entered using Epi Data 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS for windows version 21. RESULTS: In the past 6 months, about one quarter, 25.3 % of young people had a parental discussion about sexual and reproductive health issues. Young people who reside in urban areas were more likely to discuss on sexual and reproductive health issues with their parents [AOR = 2.44, 95 % CI: 1.54–3.89]. Similarly, being male was more likely to have a parental discussion about sexual and reproductive health issues than females [AOR = 1.63, 95 % CI: 1.11–2.38]. Furthermore, the odds of parent-young people discussion about SRH matters was more likely among young people aged 20–24 years [AOR = 4.57, 95 % CI: 2.13–9.82], living with fathers [AOR = 2.46, 95 % CI: 1.20–5.04] and had attained a primary level of education [AOR = 2.89, 95 % CI: 1.22–6.87]. Parents lack of interest to discuss, feeling ashamed and culturally not acceptable to talk about sexual matters were found to deter young people’s in discussing sexual and reproductive health matters. CONCLUSION: Parent-young people discussion about sexual and reproductive health is very low and there are different hindering factors. And therefore, young people’s sexual and reproductive health programs or policies should be designed in addressing the cultural and societal factors besides the individual or behavioral factors.