Adolescent females' knowledge about pregnancy prevention methods and sexually transmitted diseases

To evaluate knowledge about sexuality, contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) by female adolescents from both rural and urban zone attending public school. A cross sectional study was made with 506 teenagers, 10 to 16 years old, attending Dr. Roberto Feijó Public School in Guararema, São Paulo. A semi-structured questionnaire with general questions about sexuality, contraceptive methods and STD was administered. The Chi-square test was used to verify the association between variables. Mean age of the girls from the rural zone was 13 years and 11 months and from the urban zone age was 13 years and 7 months, with no statistical difference. Of all the girls, 31% came from the rural and 69% from the urban zone. Adolescents from the rural zone looked for more information about sexuality (81.2%) when compared to those from the urban zone (72.2%) (p