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13. Awareness Regarding Early Marriages among School Girls in Karachi

Tafazzul H Zaidi, Faheem Ahmed and Kiran Mehtab

ABSTRACT

Objective: To assess the awareness of school girls regarding early marriages in Karachi

Study Design: A Cross-sectional Study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Al Hameed School in Karachi from July 2018 To November 2018.

Materials and Methods: Structured individual questionnaire containing 30 questions was used to collect information from the respondents. Young females between the ages of 12 to 17 were considered eligible for the study. It was used to collect most of the quantifiable information on the causes and impact of early marriage before 18 years. The questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of 284 female students  in a specified age group which was conducted in three sessions that took 20 minutes on an average.An informed verbal consent was taken from the candidates. Pilot study was conducted to assess the authenticity of the questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20, with 95% confidence interval and 0.05 p-value.

Results: All the respondents were aged 17 or less. Most of them (94.7%) belong to religion of Islam. The survey was taken by people belonging to different ethnic groups. Almost 70.1% Urdu speaking, 11.3% Sindhi, 8.5% Punjabi, 2.1% Balochi and 6.3% were Pathan.

More than half (73.90 %) girls knew about the correct age of marriage. 81% girls believe that early marriage leads to discontinuation of education and inadequate maturity of young girls. 28% of girls thought early  marriage extends women's potential child bearing capacity. 40.85% view increased risk of pregnancy complications, a correlation to early marriage. 38.70 %  of the respondents knew that first 3 months of pregnancy is the most sensitive period of pregnancy. 10.90% girls were of the opinion that  mothers’ health would suffer more , if teenage mother did not get proper antenatal care. 36.30%  young females were aware that a woman can get high blood pressure and sugar due to pregnancy. about 89.40 % respondents view hospital and maternity homes to be the safest place for delivery. 58.50% girls think that early motherhood alter the mood of young females. 38.40% girls were aware that pregnancy at early age can lead to child having low birth weight. 28.50% young girls thought that early marriage/motherhood  and depression are associated and it is a driving force for addiction. 13.70% girls supported early marriage.

Conclusion: The study concluded that measures should be taken in order to aware the young girls of our society regarding this important issue or the consequences can be detrimental as less awareness can lead to an incline in maternal mortality.

Key Words: Early marriage, pregnancy, complications, awareness

Citation of articles: Zaidi TH, Ahmed F, Mehtab K. Awareness Regarding Early Marriages Among School Girls in Karachi. Med Forum 2019;20(1):52-55.