Abstract

Complications of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion are the leading causes of disability and death among
adolescents especially girls between ages 15-19 years. The study focused on assessing the factors influencing the
utilization of Reproductive Health Services among adolescents aged (12-19 years) in Mbarara Municipality schools.
A sample of 100 respondents was enrolled in the study using systematic random sampling. A cross sectional
descriptive study design was used in two Government Aided Secondary Schools that is; Nyakayojo secondary school
and Mbarara secondary and a simple random sampling technique was used to select schools and class for the study.
The study indicated mass media (31.8%) as a major source of information about RHS. Most adolescents indicated
that they faced huge barriers including long distances to travel to health facilities while incurring high transport
costs, harsh service providers, spending long hours in lines and lack of confidentiality also inclined them from
accessing RHS thus causing them to miss some of these reproductive health services, Therefore service providers
extend operational time beyond official working hours, have good attitude towards adolescents who are seeking
RHS and should provide privacy. The Government should also increase the number of health units offering RHS to
adolescents which can reduce on congestion, long queues and travelling long distances thus attracting more
adolescents