Background: Individuals with disability have to face multiple physical and attitudinal barriers to seek reproductive health services. Hence this study intends to bring out reproductive health needs of individuals with disability, which will help future policy or program formulation.
Objective: To know the reproductive and sexual health needs among differently abled individuals in the field practice area of a medical college in Karnataka, India.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in rural field practice area of a medical college in Karnataka, India. By conducting house-to-house visit, all the selected differently abled individuals were interviewed after obtaining written and informed consent from the individuals, parents and/or guardians, using a predesigned questionnaire. Data were entered and analyzed using Epi Info, version 4.0.
Results: Only 19.2% of the study population were married. More than 67.17% were not sexually active. Only 4.0% reported STI/RTI. About 38.67% were still using cloth during menstruation. Only 7.9% used contraceptives.
Conclusion: Differently abled individuals have the same reproductive and sexual health needs as their normal counterparts. They must have the same access as everyone else to the health services, and resources that support them in their decisions.
Key words: Disability, reproductive-and-sexual health needs, rural area
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