A descriptive study to assess the knowledge and attitude on adolescent health services among adolescents of selected colleges of Udupi District

A descriptive study to assess the knowledge and attitude onadolescent health services among adolescents of selected colleges of Udupi District.

The purposeof the study is to assess the adolescents’ knowledge and attitude on adolescent health services. It helps in understanding their perceptions, acceptability, and willingness towards adolescent health services. The findings will aid in raising awareness of the free health services offered by the government for adolescents. It will provide insights and recommendations to policy makers for appropriate planning and the delivery of services.

The objectives of the study are toassess the knowledge on adolescent health services among adolescents as measured by a structured knowledge questionnaire, the attitude on adolescent health services among adolescents using a Likert scale, and determine the relationship between knowledge and attitude on adolescent health services among adolescents.

A quantitative research approach and descriptive cross sectional survey design will be used.

The research setting for the study is selected professional colleges in the Udupi District. The population consists of first-year students studying in a professional institution. Participants are students between the ages of 17 and 19 years**.**

A simple random sampling technique will be used to select the adolescents from the selected professional institutes. The sample size was calculated using the formula for estimating proportions, based on the findings of a previous study conducted in India, and the sample size is 420.

The research instruments used in this study are a demographic proforma, a structured knowledge questionnaire on adolescent health services, and a Likert scale to assess attitudes toward adolescent health services among adolescents.

The validity of the tools was established by the seven experts. Pretesting will be conducted among five participants, and the reliability of the tools will be established by administering it to 20 participants. The pilot study will be conducted after obtaining formal administrative permission from the Dean, Institutional Research Committee, and Institutional Ethical Committee of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, and administrative permission will be obtained from the selected institute. A pilot study will involve 40 participants to evaluate the research design’s clarity, practicality, and feasibility.

Main data collection is planned after getting the formal approval from the heads of the institutes; informed consent from each participant will be taken, and subject information will be explained to the participants. After getting informed consent, the demographic proforma, the structured knowledge questionnaire on adolescent health services, and a Likert scale to assess the attitude on adolescent health services will be administered to the participants.

The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as frequency and percentage, and inferential statistics, including mean, standard deviation, and Pearson correlation. using Jamovi 2.3.28 software.