Youth Reproductive Health Service Utilization and Associated Factors among Amhara Region Female Night Students, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Youth is a decisive age to shape the direction of their life and that of their family. However, due to the host of biological, social, and economic factors, adolescent females can be at high risk of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Therefore, assessing youth reproductive service utilization and associated factors among female night students is very crucial for timely intervention to their gaps. METHOD: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted in Amhara region among 2,050 female night students from September 15 to November 15, 2018. A self-administered pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was computed to determine the strength of association between predictor and outcome variables. P value less than or equal to 0.05 is considered as the level of significance. RESULTS: Out of the total respondents, about 54.6%(CI: 52.5%-56.8%) of them utilized reproductive health services. Respondents who were attending secondary education (AOR = 2.55, 95%CI = 1.97‐5.62), attitude towards youth reproductive health services (AOR = 2.74, 95%CI = 2.07‐5.30), those who had a habit of communicating on sexual and reproductive health issues with their family (AOR = 3.66, 95%CI = 3.59‐7.41), discussion on sexual and reproductive health issue with peers/friends (AOR = 1.43, 95%CI = 1.01‐2.02), respondents with good knowledge on youth reproductive health services (AOR = 2.03, 95%CI = 1.49‐2.75), and those who had faced reproductive health problems (AOR = 2.03, 95%CI = 1.49‐2.75) were significantly associated with youth reproductive health service utilization. CONCLUSION: Youth reproductive health service utilization among female night students was not satisfactory. Therefore, special focus should be given to female night students by providing accessible, acceptable, confidential, flexible, and friendly reproductive health service utilization. Finally, community health promotion and education are mandatory to promote the practice of discussing youth reproductive health issues with their children.