Web-Based Reproductive Health Education: Findings from TeenWeb Nairobi

Carolyn Tucker Halpern, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ellen M.H. Mitchell, Ipas
Tilda Farhat, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Phil Bardsley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Janie Benson, Ipas

This paper reports changes in reproductive health knowledge and attitudes associated with a Web-based educational intervention directed at adolescents in five schools in Nairobi, Kenya. More than 1500 students were queried about reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and behavior via multiple Web-based or paper (Control group) questionnaire modules over a 2-year period. Core items were repeated, allowing for assessment of knowledge/attitude change in conjunction with access to Web-based health information tailored to questionnaire content. Students in schools with Web access are compared to students in Controls schools without Web access. Post-test measures of knowledge and attitudes are examined via analysis of covariance, with pretest measures included as a covariate. Moderating effects of age, biological sex, and socioeconomic status on intervention effects are examined. Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of Web-based reproductive health education in urban settings of varying infrastructure, and interpretive limitations imposed by study design.