Use of youth-friendly health services and predictive factors: A community-based analytical cross-sectional study among young people in the Tamale metropolis

Globally, teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections are on the increase among young people. However, their knowledge and uptake of youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services are low. This study evaluated young people's knowledge, attitude and utilization of youth-friendly health services in the Tamale Metropolis. 420 young people aged between 15 and 24 years were proportionately selected from four suburbs within the Tamale metropolis and a Likert scale was used to collect quantitative data. To determine the correlation between the relevant characteristics and attitudes toward youth-friendly health services, a logit model and chi-square statistics were applied. Respondents' knowledge of youth-friendly health services was low (69%). A majority (71%) of them had a negative attitude towards youth-friendly health services and 63% of them had never used such services before. Level of education and religion were significantly associated with the knowledge levels of respondents while religion, employment status and individuals contributing to decision-making concerning the health of the participants were associated with attitudes towards the services. Cost and level of education were also associated with the uptake of youth-friendly health services. In conclusion, most young people had low knowledge, poor attitudes and low uptake of youth-friendly health services. Predictors of uptake of youth-friendly services were cost and educational level. The study suggests the need for Ghana Health Service to rigorously embark on sensitization programmes on the benefits of utilising youth-friendly health services and the cost of patronising these services could be subsidized to promote its utilization among the youth.