Relación entre conocimiento sobre métodos anticonceptivos y embarazo adolescente en estudiantes de secundaria de la Unidad Educativa Fiscal Los Vergeles, Guayaquil - Ecuador, 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a period characterized by sexual curiosity, frequently explored irresponsibly due to a lack of knowledge or use of contraceptives, which leads to consequences such as adolescent pregnancy. In 2021, global statistics revealed that adolescent pregnancy is a seriousmajor problem in countries such as Ecuador, where the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC, by its acronym in Spanish) reported that 56.7% of pregnancies occurred among high school students. Objective: To determine the relationship between knowledge of contraceptive methods and adolescent pregnancy among high school students at Unidad Educativa Fiscal Los Vergeles, Guayaquil – Ecuador, 2024. Methods: An observational, analytical, cross-sectional study with a qualitative and quantitative approach was conducted. The SexContraKnow-Instrument survey, validated in Spanish in 2019, was administered to 175 female high school students. Results: Of the 296 students, 59.1% were female and 40.9% male. A total of 86.8% were single, 12.8% cohabiting, and 0.3% were married. Twenty-seven-point four percent (27.4%) reported having initiated sexual activity at age 14. Chi-square analysis revealed no statistically significant association between knowledge of contraceptive methods and adolescent pregnancy (χ² (1) = 0.867, p = 0.352), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.541. Conclusions: No statistically significant association was identified between the level of contraceptive knowledge and adolescent pregnancy. Although most participants demonstrated good knowledge, a considerable proportion lacked adequate information, underscoring the need to strengthen sexual education programs. Further studies are suggested to corroborate these findings. Keywords: adolescent, contraceptives, knowledge, pregnancy