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Abstract Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes.Adolescence is referred to the period between childhood and adulthood that extends between ages 14 and 18 years in females. During this time, significant changes occur in the body.In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(UNCRPD), disability is defined in the following way: Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.A disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations,and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in body function or structure. An activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual involved in life situations. A disability can be temporary (e.g., broken leg) or lifelong (e.g., Down syndrome), and people may develop a disability at any point in their lifetime. People with disabilities have the same reproductive health needs as people without disabilities. However, people with disabilities historically have been denied access to information on reproductive health and often experience barriers when trying to receive reproductive health services and screenings People may experience many types of disabilities, including difficulties with hearing, seeing,moving, thinking, learning, and communicating.Protection and promotion of reproductive health are of great importance for disabled adolescent girls, since they are prone to high-risk sexual vulnerabilities and consequences. Although the rights of disabled adolescents have been emphasized in recent years, their reproductive health care is still a challenge for parents, teachers, caregivers, and service providers. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of nursing intervention on reproductive health knowledge for adolescent females with educable intellectual disabilities. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized (pretest-posttest). The total number of students at school was 240 students and a sample of 20 adolescent females with educable intellectual disabilities was selected from the secondary stage. Throughout the course of the present study, data were collected using instruments which are developed by the researcher and revised by qualified experts, then tested for validity and reliability. Two instruments were developed and used for data collection.Instruments of data collection:The data was collected through two instrument structured interviewing questionnaire.The first instrument: Structured interviewing questionnaires (16 questions):-It included 2 parts as follows:Part (I): Sociodemographic characteristics such age, educational level,number of sisters and brothers, educational level of parents and living with both parents or not, etc.Part (II): Communication with parents such as learning from one of the parents about puberty, about menstruation, reproductive system, etc...... The second instrument: Assess the knowledge of(F.E.I.D) about reproductive health consist of 46 questions that was adapted by the researcher after a review of related literature to assess females’ awareness about reproductive health which include:- the first part was anatomy of female reproductive system(4 items) ,the second part was puppetry (5 items),the third part was menstrual hygiene (19 items).the forth part was marriage (2 items), the fifth part pregnancy and labor (8 items) and the six part was family planning methods (8 items).Regarding the findings of the current study, the largest age group in the study was the age 16 years old (50%). Most of mothers represented (75%) had high educational level. Almost of them (81.7%) were employed. All information about the female (reproductive system, puberty, menstruation, menstruation symptoms, menstrual hygiene, pregnancy, childbirth, and family planning methods) increased significantly after nursing intervention compared to before intervention.The findings of the current study succeeded in accepting the research hypothesis that was formulated to achieve the purpose of the study:1. FEID had poor score of knowledge regarding reproductive health knowledge pre intervention (85%) but post intervention the students had high level of score of knowledge regarding reproductive health knowledge (80%).2. FEID had poor score of knowledge regarding practice about perineal care during menstrual hygiene pre intervention (75%) but post intervention they had high level of score of practice about perineal care during menstrual hygiene (85%).And the following recommendations are suggested, such as: Continued health education programs should be implemented to increase awareness of adolescents with intellectual disabilities about reproductive health, Continued health education programs should be implemented to include males, not only females, because their IQ is higher than females; the nursing curriculum should include reproductive health for adolescents with intellectual disabilities. And the findings emphasize that information about reproductive health should be included in the school curriculum, and that there should be better communication between female students and their teachers, as well as between daughters and mothers. |