African Wetlands Research (Environmental Science) | 27 February 2008
Effectiveness of Adolescent Reproductive Health Counselors on Teenage Contraceptive Use and Unintended Pregnancy Rates in Rural Western Uganda: A Twenty-Week Training Implementation Impact Analysis
E, d, w, a, r, d, M, u, g, y, e, n, y, i
Abstract
This study examines the impact of training adolescent reproductive health counselors on teenage contraceptive use and unintended pregnancy rates in rural Western Uganda. A quasi-experimental design was employed, comparing baseline data from pre-training surveys with follow-up assessments conducted at weeks 10 and 20 after the training intervention. There was a statistically significant increase in contraceptive use (p < .05) among participants who received training compared to those in the control group. The proportion of teenagers reporting unintended pregnancies decreased by 30% over the twenty-week period. The training effectively enhanced teenage contraceptive use and reduced unintended pregnancies, indicating its potential as a preventive measure for adolescent reproductive health issues. Continued support and reinforcement of counseling services are recommended to maintain these positive outcomes. Additionally, further research should explore long-term effects and scalability of the intervention. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p<em>i)=\beta</em>0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.