Adolescents' knowledge about contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Objectives: to identify adolescents' knowledge of safe sexual practices and to identify adolescents' information needs about sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. Method: cross-sectional study conducted with 499 adolescents in public school, from February to April 2017, by using a self-applied and structured questionnaire. Results: the best known method was the male condom (94.4%); among male adolescents, 22.7% considered condom use unnecessary in all sexual relations (p<0.01) and 24.6% stated that oral contraceptives protected against sexually transmitted infections (p=0.04). Conclusion: the adolescents presented previous and eventually superficial conceptions regarding the prevention of STI and pregnancy. Female participants presented greater knowledge about contraceptive methods, sexually transmitted infections and safe sex practices. The identification of disabilities in the knowledge presented by the group recommends activities related to sexual education in schools.