Brazilian adolescents’ knowledge and beliefs about abortion methods: a school-based internet inquiry

BMC Women's Health

Research Article

Ellen MH Mitchell¹  Ana Araujo²  Carolyn Tucker Halpern³  Silke Heumann⁴  Leila Adesse⁵ 

[1] Amsterdam Institute for Global Health & Development, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Anthropology Department, Amherst College, Amherst, USA;Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA;International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, The Netherlands;University of Rio de Janeiro School of Public Health, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;

关键词: Abortion;    Adolescents;    Brazil;    Internet;    Emergency contraception;    Reproductive health;    Pregnancy;    Misoprostol;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6874-14-27

 received in 2013-08-20, accepted in 2014-01-29,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundInternet surveys that draw from traditionally generated samples provide the unique conditions to engage adolescents in exploration of sensitive health topics.MethodsWe examined awareness of unwanted pregnancy, abortion behaviour, methods, and attitudes toward specific legal indications for abortion via a school-based internet survey among 378 adolescents aged 12–21 years in three Rio de Janeiro public schools.ResultsForty-five percent knew peers who had undergone an abortion. Most students (66.0%) did not disclose abortion method knowledge. However, girls (aOR 4.2, 95% CI 2.4-7.2), those who had experienced their sexual debut (aOR1.76, 95% CI 1.1-3.0), and those attending a prestigious magnet school (aOR 2.7 95% CI 1.4-6.3) were more likely to report methods. Most abortion methods (79.3%) reported were ineffective, obsolete, and/or unsafe. Herbs (e.g. marijuana tea), over-the-counter medications, surgical procedures, foreign objects and blunt trauma were reported. Most techniques (85.2%) were perceived to be dangerous, including methods recommended by the World Health Organization. A majority (61.4%) supported Brazil’s existing law permitting abortion in the case of rape. There was no association between gender, age, sexual debut, parental education or socioeconomic status and attitudes toward legal abortion. However, students at the magnet school supported twice as many legal indications (2.7, SE.27) suggesting a likely role of peers and/or educators in shaping abortion views.ConclusionsAbortion knowledge and attitudes are not driven simply by age, religion or class, but rather a complex interplay that includes both social spaces and gender. Prevention of abortion morbidity and mortality among adolescents requires comprehensive sexuality and reproductive health education that includes factual distinctions between safe and unsafe abortion methods.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Mitchell et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014