Comportamento sexual e uso de métodos contraceptivos na adolescência em uma unidade básica de saúde.

Abstract

Adolescence is a phase of intense transformations, marked by the emergence of sexual desire, being necessary a systematic action of sexual education in order to encourage the use of contraceptive methods and prevent the transmission of infections and an unplanned pregnancy. Objectives: To know the sexual, reproductive and social indicators among the adolescents of the Basic Health Unit and at the end of the data analysis elaborate suggestions for the promotion of sexual health. Methodology: Cross-sectional, descriptive study, where the variables of interest were recorded by means of a structured questionnaire with closed questions for adolescents (regardless of sex) between 10 and 19 years old, seen at the Basic Health Unit during a period of 6 consecutive months. The outcome under study was the use of contraceptive method used alone or in association with another method. The independent variables were sex, age at menarche, beginning of sexual activity, number of partners, menarche among girls, use/knowledge/source of contraceptive methods. Results and discussion: The sample consisted of 157 adolescents between 10 and 19 years old, with 66.24% (104) girls and 34% (53) boys seen at the Basic Health Unit. As for the presence of pregnancy or previous pregnancy, 3.8% of the girls had been or were pregnant, while among the boys, 7.5% had already reported having someone pregnant. Menarche at the age of 15 represented 26%, and 10% did not know how to inform, which expresses the lack of knowledge about the importance of this event in women's health. Among the interviewees, sexual intercourse had already taken place in 45% of the adolescents, and the beginning of the first sexual intercourse occurred in 58.1% above 15 years of age at menarche in most girls. Another relationship verified is that the higher the level of education of the adolescents who practice sexual intercourse, the greater are the chances of using condoms both in the first intercourse and in their lifetime. Regarding the use of condoms, 19.7% reported using them "almost always," and consequently 65.6% knew how to obtain free condoms. Finally, 54.1% of the interviewees had never had sexual intercourse and 32.5% had had it with more than 1 person. Final considerations: The adolescents in this study consider their knowledge of contraceptive methods to be adequate, although their knowledge is restricted to some existing methods. Many students mentioned the importance of the health professional and the school as sources of information, highlighting the importance of a more intense implementation of sexual education in schools.