Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study
The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and use of contraceptive methods by female adolescent students. The study was cross-sectional and quantitative, using a semi-structured questionnaire that was administered to 12- to 19-year-old female students in Maceió, Brazil. A representativ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2009-01-01
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| Series: | The Scientific World Journal |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2009.8 |
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| author | Divanise S. Correia Ana C. P. Pontes Jairo C. Cavalcante E. Sócrates T. Egito Eulália M.C. Maia |
| author_facet | Divanise S. Correia Ana C. P. Pontes Jairo C. Cavalcante E. Sócrates T. Egito Eulália M.C. Maia |
| author_sort | Divanise S. Correia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and use of contraceptive methods by female adolescent students. The study was cross-sectional and quantitative, using a semi-structured questionnaire that was administered to 12- to 19-year-old female students in Maceió, Brazil. A representative and randomized sample was calculated, taking into account the number of hospital admissions for curettage. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee, and Epi InfoTM software was used for data and result evaluation using the mean and chi-square statistical test. Our results show that the majority of students know of some contraceptive methods (95.5%), with the barrier/hormonal methods being the most mentioned (72.4%). Abortion and aborting drugs were inaccurately described as contraceptives, and 37.9% of the sexually active girls did not make use of any method. The barrier methods were the most used (35.85%). A significant association was found in the total sample (2,592) between pregnancy and the use of any contraceptive method. This association was not found, however, in the group having an active sexual life (559). The study points to a knowledge of contraceptive methods, especially by teenagers who have already been pregnant, but contraceptives were not adequately used. The low use of chemical methods of contraception brings the risk of pregnancy. Since abortion and aborting drugs were incorrectly cited as contraceptive methods, this implies a nonpreventive attitude towards pregnancy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-73467abda7244662a0f69f0092511126 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1537-744X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2009-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Scientific World Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-73467abda7244662a0f69f00925111262025-02-03T06:12:41ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal1537-744X2009-01-019374510.1100/tsw.2009.8Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian StudyDivanise S. Correia0Ana C. P. Pontes1Jairo C. Cavalcante2E. Sócrates T. Egito3Eulália M.C. Maia4Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Centro de Ciências da Saúde (CCS), Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Saúde (PPGCSa), 59010-180, Natal-RN, BrazilUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Centro de Ciências da Saúde (CCS), Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Saúde (PPGCSa), 59010-180, Natal-RN, BrazilUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Centro de Ciências da Saúde (CCS), Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Saúde (PPGCSa), 59010-180, Natal-RN, BrazilUniversidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL), Faculdade de Medicina, Campus A C SimÕes Cidade Universitária CEP, 57072-900, Maceió-AL, BrazilUniversidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL), Faculdade de Medicina, Campus A C SimÕes Cidade Universitária CEP, 57072-900, Maceió-AL, BrazilThe purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and use of contraceptive methods by female adolescent students. The study was cross-sectional and quantitative, using a semi-structured questionnaire that was administered to 12- to 19-year-old female students in Maceió, Brazil. A representative and randomized sample was calculated, taking into account the number of hospital admissions for curettage. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee, and Epi InfoTM software was used for data and result evaluation using the mean and chi-square statistical test. Our results show that the majority of students know of some contraceptive methods (95.5%), with the barrier/hormonal methods being the most mentioned (72.4%). Abortion and aborting drugs were inaccurately described as contraceptives, and 37.9% of the sexually active girls did not make use of any method. The barrier methods were the most used (35.85%). A significant association was found in the total sample (2,592) between pregnancy and the use of any contraceptive method. This association was not found, however, in the group having an active sexual life (559). The study points to a knowledge of contraceptive methods, especially by teenagers who have already been pregnant, but contraceptives were not adequately used. The low use of chemical methods of contraception brings the risk of pregnancy. Since abortion and aborting drugs were incorrectly cited as contraceptive methods, this implies a nonpreventive attitude towards pregnancy.http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2009.8 |
| spellingShingle | Divanise S. Correia Ana C. P. Pontes Jairo C. Cavalcante E. Sócrates T. Egito Eulália M.C. Maia Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study The Scientific World Journal |
| title | Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study |
| title_full | Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study |
| title_fullStr | Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study |
| title_short | Adolescents: Contraceptive Knowledge and Use, a Brazilian Study |
| title_sort | adolescents contraceptive knowledge and use a brazilian study |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2009.8 |
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