Knowledge and practice of family planning and HIV-prevention behaviour among just delivered adolescents in Ecuador: the problem of adolescent pregnancies

Adolescents constitute a high risk population for the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, among them HIV/AIDS. Knowledge regarding reproductive issues among them is a key point in order to establish appropriate prevention programs. Obtain information regarding the knowledge and practice related to family planning and HIV-prevention behaviour among adolescents of low income. Adolescents aged 19 or less delivering at the Enrique C. Sotomayor Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Guayaquil, Ecuador were surveyed in the immediate postpartum period with a structured questionnaire designed for the purpose. During the study period, 357 pregnant adolescents were surveyed. Mean age was 17.2 +/- 1.4 years, 30.8% were aged 16 or less. Demographical and obstetrical history differences were found when comparing adolescents in relation to age and educational level. A high rate of mothers had unplanned pregnancies (63.3%) or did not know what family planning was (49.6%). Despite high knowledge of what a condom or an oral contraceptive was, few had used them in the past. The most frequently known family planning methods in this series, which was age dependent, were: oral contraceptives (90.2%), condoms (84.9%), parenteral (66.7%) and intrauterine devices (63.3%). The majority knew what HIV/AIDS infection was, the most important sources of knowledge being: television, high school source, and family or relatives. A high rate of adolescents had never had an HIV test performed in the past with one prior tested adolescent resulting in a positive result. There was a high rate of knowledge regarding the most frequent HIV transmission routes: sexual intercourse, contact with infected blood and vertical transmission. In this series, although condom use was the most known way for HIV protection, only 22.2% answered having intercourse protected with this method. In this adolescent series, older age was related to higher knowledge in family planning methods; in global despite finding a relatively high knowledge in family planning and HIV related issues, contraception use and HIV protection behaviour was low.