Abstract

Background: Teenage pregnancy is a significant public health concern in many low- and middle-income countries, including Cameroon. It leads to adverse health outcomes for both the mother and child, as well as social, economic, and educational challenges.

In the Limbe health district of Cameroon, there has been limited research on the prevalence, determinants, and knowledge of teenagers on teenage pregnancy. This study aimed to address this gap by determining the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, identifying the determinants, and assessing the knowledge of teenagers on teenage pregnancy.

Materials and Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study carried out in selected health areas of the Limbe Health District from November to September 2023 among 394 teenagers. A multistage sampling technique was used to enroll participants. A Structured questionnaire was used to collect data.

Data was collected by the principal investigator and the data was entered using kobo collect. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 26. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation was used to summarize data. A logistic regression model was used to identify determinants of teenage pregnancy at p<0.05.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 15.5±2.6. Of the 394 teenagers, 167 (42.4%) were within the age group 17-19 years and 358 (90.9%) were single. Less than half, 190 (48.2%) had attended secondary school and 317 (80.5%) were Christian. The prevalence of teenage pregnancy was 56.1% and repeat pregnancy prevalence was 11.9%. The proportion of teenagers with good knowledge on teenage pregnancy was 59.1%. Factors found associated to teenage pregnancy were: age group, marital status, keeping late nights/night clubbing, Sexually abused in the past, and being free to leave and come home at any time. The consequences of teenage pregnancy was 158 of the participants were rejected by their parents as a result of the pregnancy,198 dropped out from school as a result teenage pregnancy morestill 134 of the participants had health issues as a result of teenage pregnancy and 48 of the teenagers loss their jobs as a result of being pregnant.

Conclusion: Teenage pregnancy prevalence was high in this study. A moderate proportion of teenagers in the district had a good knowledge of teenage pregnancy, which showed that there was still a need for continuous education and awareness programs to improve the knowledge of those who are less informed.

The study identified several factors that were associated with teenage pregnancy, such as age group, staying late night, and sexual abuse in the past. School dropout, parental rejection, and stigmatization were consequences of teenage pregnancy documented in this study.

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