This study aimed to assess the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health among adolescents enrolled in school in the semi-rural community of Tololar outside León, Nicaragua. The following research questions guided the research:

Are there knowledge gaps in the studied population regarding sex and reproduction, contraception, human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)?

How do sex, age, religion, and socioeconomic status affect knowledge?

What sources of information are used on these issues in the studied population?

A cross-sectional study carried out in October 2016 investigated the knowledge regarding sexual and reproductive health among adolescents aged 11-19 years in the semi-rural community of Tololar, Nicaragua.

The semi-rural sector of Tololar is located 9 kilometers from León, Nicaragua’s main university town. Tololar is believed to be a representative community for the western part of Nicaragua. The public secondary school in the area, which covers all adolescents in the sectors that belong to the Tololar community, was chosen as a setting to access the adolescents in the desired ages.

All registered students at the chosen school present at the time of fieldwork who gave written informed consent were deemed eligible for the study. Thus, 253 students were the total amount of registered students at the school and therefore the ones selected to participate. However, due to dropouts as well as absent students and one who chose not to participate in the study, we had a final amount of 225 participants who answered the questionnaire.

Data was collected using an instrument based on "Illustrative Questionnaire for Interview-Surveys with Young People," a core set of instruments endorsed by the World Health Organization 20. This instrument is widely used in low- and middle-income countries and used in several studies where validity recently has been reported to be high (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.89) 21. This instrument was translated into Spanish and modified in order to suit the chosen setting, aims, and target population. Initially, we conducted a one-day pilot with a smaller group of students in the city of León with positive results and made no significant changes. For the data collection, there was both a male and female instructor present at all times. They invited registered students to participate as well as answered questions. The participants answered the self-administered instrument in Spanish using tablets with the software EpiCollect 22. The instructors were there to answer any questions regarding language.

We conducted the study according to the Helsinki declaration 23. Approval of the protocol was obtained from the institutional review board at UNAN-León, Nicaragua, with ethical approval number FWA00004523/IRB00003342, ACTA No. 95. We asked for written informed consent of each respondent before participation. Respondents were informed regarding voluntary participation, risks, benefits, and confidentiality. The School Council (the principal, vice principal, and parent’s representatives) approved participation because many of the participants were minors.

One outcome variable was identified and defined as "Knowledge." This variable was an ordinal variable with numeric value constructed from items of three instrument sections: sex and reproduction (four items), contraception (three items) and hiv/STIs (six items). The items were in total 13 (see Table 2). We calculated a knowledge score for each participant by assigning one point for each correct answer out of the 13 items. The items had the option of "Not sure" to eliminate guessing. This option, as well as an incorrect answer, gave zero points. Sex, age, economical standard, religion, civil status, and education were considered independent variables and were categorized as shown in Table 1. We considered sources of information separately.

Regarding the socioeconomic variable, poverty was measured using components of the Unsatisfied Basic Needs Index 24. The components used in this study were the information on housing conditions such as the material of house walls and floor, and sanitary services such as access to water and latrine. When a component was classed as satisfactory, the participant received a score of one. The total sum varied between 0 and 4. With a score of 0-2, the participant was categorized as "Low-end," with a score of 3 as "Mid-end" and with a score of 4 as "High-end."

For descriptive purposes, we also asked participants about from whom they had learned most regarding puberty, pregnancy, sex, STIs, and contraception. They had the opportunity to choose more than one option from a provided list of sources (School teacher, Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Godparents, Religious services, Friends, Doctor/Health center, Others, Nobody) which also included one open-ended alternative (Other). We asked how often they spoke about the topics earlier mentioned with the person/persons that they chose as well as from whom they would have preferred to learn more.

They were also similarly asked which type of media they usually use to learn about these topics from a multiple-choice list of options (Web sites, Social networks, TV, Radio, Books/journals/library, Films/videos, Others, None). We asked how often they used the media earlier selected as well as which was their preferred medium/media to learn more about the topics mentioned.

Statistical analysis was performed with the package R Commander 25 in the R program 26. Descriptive analysis was performed on sociodemographic data where absolute and relative frequencies were calculated as well as mean age. Associations between sex and remaining covariates were analyzed with Pearson's chi-squared test for independence. Descriptive analysis was similarly performed on the participants' responses to knowledge items, with associations calculated between the outcome "Knowledge" and sex. Descriptive analysis was also performed on sources of information with relative frequencies calculated. Bivariate analysis was conducted on the dependent variable with the independent variables, using simple linear regression. Variables with a p-value < 0.2 were considered for the multiple linear regression analysis. This cut-off was used in the bivariate analyses in order not to fail in identifying possible important covariates 27. Multicollinearity was assessed through the use of variance-inflation factors. A confidence interval of 95% was used and thus a p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Tables were stratified by sex.

The registered number of students at the school was a total of 253 adolescents aged 11-19 years. There was a school dropout rate of n = 24 (9.5%) and the majority of the students that had left school was females that had dropped out because of pregnancy in young age, according to the school principal. Three students were absent during the time of fieldwork and the remaining 226 students all, but one provided voluntary informed consent which left a final 225 participants.

Sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are depicted in Table 1. Of the 225 participants, about half were male, and the mean age was 14.9 years. When it comes to economic standard, half were considered to be high-end considering housing conditions and sanitary services. Regarding religious beliefs, four out of ten were Catholic and a quarter did not have a religion. Out of the participants having a preferred religion, 67 % considered religion to be essential in his or her life. The variable "Education" was excluded in the adjusted model due to collinearity with the variable "Age."

The mean knowledge score regarding sexual and reproductive health among the participants was 7.7 out of the total sum of 13; thus we describe the overall knowledge as moderate. Scores ranged from 0 to 13 points. The descriptive statistics of knowledge among the studied population is shown in Table 2 and Table 3. Regarding sex and reproduction, one-fifth of women and one-third of men knew that masturbation does not cause severe damage to health. Over two-thirds were aware that condoms are an effective method of preventing pregnancy. That a person can have an STI asymptomatically was known by 58 % of the respondents and 68 % recognized possible signs and symptoms of an STI. Less than one-quarter of the participants was aware that a person with hiv and aids does not always appear emaciated or unhealthy. Regarding how to protect oneself from STIs, just over half of women and just over two-thirds of men were aware that condoms are an effective way of protection.

Regarding awareness of contraceptive methods, six of ten of the participants knew about injections. A third of the young men and a bit more of the young women knew that a woman could take a pill every day as a contraceptive method. A third of the participants knew of the emergency pill and recognized an intrauterine device as a form of a contraceptive method.

As shown in Table 3, only 17 % of males and slightly under a quarter of females were aware that hiv could be transmitted sexually. Furthermore, only 4 % of the respondents knew that hiv could transmit during birth. As for the myths regarding hiv transmission, a third of the adolescents believed that it could transmit through a mosquito bite.

Of the studied population, almost all declared that they had had classes on the sexual and reproductive systems and moreover, 78 % of the respondents wanted more classes on these topics.

Bivariate analysis on the dependent variable "Knowledge" showed that young men in the studied population had a significantly higher knowledge than young women, p-value < 0.001 (see Table 4). Knowledge was augmented significantly with age, p-value < 0.001. The bivariate analysis furthermore showed that the adolescents who were currently in a relationship of any kind had greater knowledge scores than the participants who were not, p-value < 0.001. Multiple linear regression was employed in order to investigate these associations further while controlling for effects of confounding factors. Findings showed that being female was a significant negative determinant of knowledge regarding sexual and reproductive health compared to being male, p-value < 0.01. In the adjusted model, knowledge significantly increased with age, p-value < 0.05, and being in a relationship was furthermore a determinant of higher knowledge, p-value < 0.01.

As depicted in Table 5, a schoolteacher was the most frequent source of information among the adolescents regarding puberty, sex, pregnancy, STIs and contraception. Mothers were the persons from whom most of the adolescents would have preferred to learn more about these topics. Regarding media, young women chose social networks more frequently while the source of information most commonly opted for among young men was websites. The preferred medium among all age groups and both sexes were social networks.

This study showed that the general knowledge of sexual and reproductive health among adolescents in the studied population was moderate. Significant knowledge gaps were found, particularly regarding the transmission of hiv. Young men had significantly higher knowledge regarding sexual and reproductive health compared to young women. Knowledge on this topic increased significantly with age. To be in a relationship was found as a significant positive determinant of sexual and reproductive knowledge.

We found more profound knowledge gaps among young Nicaraguans than those found in previous studies 1116 which may be explained by the additional inclusion in this study of the youngest span of adolescents since we found a positive relationship between age and sexual knowledge. The importance of their knowledge on these issues has previously been stated 216. The low knowledge regarding routes of hiv transmission is a worrying new finding regarding the spread of the virus. With Nicaragua’s high level of teenage pregnancies in mind, it is troubling that 95% of adolescents were unaware that hiv could transmit during childbirth.

The present study found young men to have greater sexual knowledge than young women, an issue where previous research is divided. The same findings earlier described, where greater exposure for men to media and education, as well as to learning through greater access to public spaces, have been mentioned as possible explanations. Social barriers could also explain the dissimilarities, such as a lower acceptance of women demonstrating their knowledge of condoms and sexual matters in some societies 16. For the context under study, the ideology of machismo could comprise a part of this social barrier. Women are expected to act sexually naive, while men are rewarded for being sexually experienced.

In this study, civil status was found to be a predictor for a higher knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, which is consistent with previous evidence 17. Since premarital sex is widely considered sinful in Nicaragua 7, it may be less taboo to learn on the subject if being in a relationship.

The sources of information most frequently opted for were websites, social networks, and TV. These types of media may prove an effective way of reaching out to adolescents with information on sexual and reproductive health, especially since adolescents may face obstacles in accessing sexual and reproductive health care. Those not having access to these types of media shall however not be forgotten.

This study identified school teachers to be the persons most frequently selected as a source which was consistent with previous findings 14. This finding may suggest that sex education and contact with teachers was common in this setting or that it was less acceptable or more sensitive to talk about this subject when not in the context of formal sex education.

Reporting bias due to the use of a self-reporting survey is one limitation. Social desirability bias might also have affected the answers; the social barriers regarding knowledge 16 may, in this case, have played a part, with for example women perceiving it less acceptable to demonstrate their knowledge. The use of tablets as a means of data collection represents both strengths and limitations to the study, with the use of new technology being considered an extra motivation and a definite strategy to increase participation as well as a user-friendly tool, while it may also have led to a dependence on skills of this technology. Another limitation was the use of cross-sectional study design; thus only associations and no causal relationships could be stated. Regarding the variables, the design of the socioeconomic variable was a limitation since the required full information for the Unsatisfied Basic Needs index was missing, which implied that economic standard might not have been adequately measured. The investigation of knowledge of contraceptive methods used in this study ("have heard of" the different methods) is a measure of general awareness and cannot guarantee a correct knowledge of the method. This study focused on knowledge as one possible way of improving sexual and reproductive health among adolescents. There are however a wide variety of factors except for the knowledge that may play a part and could be investigated, such as social and cultural influences on sexual behavior.

The data can be considered representative for Tololar, and at best for semi-rural areas in western Nicaragua, however, it cannot be generalized to all Nicaraguan adolescents. It is notable that this study only measured knowledge among adolescents enrolled in school and moreover that the rate of adolescents dropping out of school was considerable, of which the majority was females due to pregnancy which in itself is an important finding.

STIs - sexually transmitted infections

hiv – human immunodeficiency virus

UNAN-León – Universidad Nacional Autónoma Nicaragua, León

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

All authors approved the final manuscript. ASB executed the study and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors aided in editing the manuscript. PEC also aided in the design of the statistical analyses, while CK and WJUG aided in the conceptualization and implementation of the study.

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA, and Värmlands nation, Uppsala funded this study. The authors wish to thank the data collection research team. We also thank participating adolescents.