Anticoncepción en la adolescencia: ¿opción informada según estrato socioeconómico-cultural?

Abstract

This study evaluated the use of contraceptive methods (CM) by adolescents from the lastest high school’s grades, in relation to age, sex, knowledge about the subject and social-economic-cultural stratum. Two hundred and ninety four students, from 2 state schools (each expressing a different stratum), were included. The instrument (a questionnaire) was designed and validated, to answer it voluntarily and confidentially. The significance level considered for the analysis was p<0,0l. The adolescents were between 15 and 20 years. In 90,19c of them, we found knowledge about CM, and only in 83% their information had a specialized source; there were differences in relation to social-economic- cultural stratum (highest stratum: 95,9%; lowest stratum 85,8%). CM’s users were 31,3%, and the greater the age, the more frequent the use; there were no differences in relation to sex. Users evaluated themselves with better mark, about knowledge, than no users (by mark’s average and distribution). We conclude than 1/6 of the group didn’t have adequate information about CM, and the higher the social- economic-cultural stratum, the greater the proportion of adolescents that had knowledge. We discuss possible causes and involvements of above.