<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The aim of the work is to assess vulnerability degree of reproductive health in adolescent population in Serbia by analyzing their sexual behavior. The paper is based on data from a National health survey of the population in Serbia in 2013 (without Kosovo and Metohija region), conducted by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia. For the purposes of this study, the data used are referred to households and population of age 15 and over, so that the final number for analysis is a sample of 1722 respondents aged 15-24. The study included demographic characteristics of respondents (age, gender, settlement type, region) and the characteristics of reproductive health: sexual behavior, use of contraceptive protection, knowledge and attitudes towards HIV, protection of reproductive health. χ<sup>2</sup> test was applied for testing differences in frequency of categorical variables. All results with a probability that equals to or is less than 5% (p≤0.05) are considered statistically significant. Among the respondents, there were more than half (53.5%) of sexually active adolescents. The highest percentage of them- 16.6% responded that they had first sexual intercourse at the age of 17. 53.4% of adolescents had sexual intercourse with one partner, 26.4% of respondents had sexual intercourse with two or more partners. The most commonly used contraceptive method was interrupted intercourse (coitus interruptus) with 34.7% of respondents.</p></abstract>

The aim of the work is to assess vulnerability degree of reproductive health in adolescent population in Serbia by analyzing their sexual behavior. The paper is based on data from a National health survey of the population in Serbia in 2013 (without Kosovo and Metohija region), conducted by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia. For the purposes of this study, the data used are referred to households and population of age 15 and over, so that the final number for analysis is a sample of 1722 respondents aged 15-24. The study included demographic characteristics of respondents (age, gender, settlement type, region) and the characteristics of reproductive health: sexual behavior, use of contraceptive protection, knowledge and attitudes towards HIV, protection of reproductive health. χ2 test was applied for testing differences in frequency of categorical variables. All results with a probability that equals to or is less than 5% (p≤0.05) are considered statistically significant. Among the respondents, there were more than half (53.5%) of sexually active adolescents. The highest percentage of them- 16.6% responded that they had first sexual intercourse at the age of 17. 53.4% of adolescents had sexual intercourse with one partner, 26.4% of respondents had sexual intercourse with two or more partners. The most commonly used contraceptive method was interrupted intercourse (coitus interruptus) with 34.7% of respondents.

The Factors that Determine Reproductive Health Characteristics of Adolescents in Serbia

Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences

University of Kragujevac and Institute for Public Health

Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Medical Sciences and Institute for Public Health

Experimental and Applied Biomedical Research (EABR)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The aim of the work is to assess vulnerability degree of reproductive health in adolescent population in Serbia by analyzing their sexual behavior. The paper...

The Factors that Determine Reproductive Health Characteristics of Adolescents in Serbia

Published Online: Jul 30, 2019

Page range: 23 - 26

Received: May 29, 2017

Accepted: Jun 06, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjecr-2017-0028

Keywords
reproductive health, adolescents, Serbia, National Health Research

© 2019 Gordana Djordjevic et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Factors that Determine Reproductive Health Characteristics of Adolescents in Serbia

Published Online: Jul 30, 2019

Page range: 23 - 26

Received: May 29, 2017

Accepted: Jun 06, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjecr-2017-0028

Keywordsreproductive health, adolescents, Serbia, National Health Research

© 2019 Gordana Djordjevic et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
reproductive health, adolescents, Serbia, National Health Research