title: ERICA: sexual initiation and contraception in Brazilian adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of sexual initiation and contraceptive use at the last sexual intercourse of Brazilian adolescents, according to sociodemographic features. METHODS The data were obtained from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA), a national school-based cross-sectional study. We included 74,589 adolescents from 32 geographic strata (27 capitals and five sets of municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants of each of the five macro-regions of the Country). Information on sexual initiation and contraceptive use at the last sexual intercourse (male condom and oral contraceptive pill) has been used. We have estimated prevalence and confidence intervals (95%CI) considering sample weights according to sex, age, type of school, residence status, macro-region and capitals. RESULTS We observed that 28.1% (95%CI 27.0-29.2) of the adolescents had already initiated sexual life, with higher prevalence among those aged 17 years (56.4%, 95%CI 53.9-58.9), males (33.5%, 95%CI 31.8-35.2), studying at public schools (29.9%, 95%CI 28.5-31.4), and from the Northern region (33.9%, 95%CI 32.3-35.4), mainly from Macapa, Manaus, and Rio Branco. Among those who had started their sexual life, 82.3% (95%CI 81.1-83.4) reported the use of contraceptive methods at the last intercourse, and the prevalence of use was higher among adolescents aged 17 years (85.3%, 95%CI 82.7-87.6), females (85.2%, 95%CI 83.8-86.5) and those living in the Southern region (85.9%, 95%CI 82.9-88.5). Male condom was used by 68.8% (95%CI 66.9-70.7), with no difference by type of school or macro-regions; the contraceptive pill was used by 13.4% (CI95% 12.2-14.6), and more frequently used among women (24.7%, 95%CI 22.5-27,0) and 17-year-old adolescents (20.8%, 95%CI 18.2-23.6) from urban settings(13.7%, 95%CI 12.5-14.9) and from the Southern region (22.6%, 95%CI 19.0-26.8), and less often in the Northern region. CONCLUSIONS ERICA's data analysis on sexuality and contraception shows heterogeneities in the prevalence of sexual initiation and use of contraceptive methods among Brazilian adolescents, depending on their age, where they live, and the type of school they study at. Younger adolescents and those living in the Northern region seem to be more vulnerable to the consequences of unprotected sexual intercourses.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem em Saúde Coletiva, Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Ana Luiza Vilela
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem em Saúde Coletiva, Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos da Saúde do Adolescente, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Caetano
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kuschnir
authors.affiliation: Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Christiane Borges do Nascimento
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Chofakian
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, Brasil.
authors.forename: Ana Júlia Pantoja
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Morfologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brasil.
authors.forename: George Dantas
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Karine Ferreira
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Escola Nacional de Ciências Estatísticas, Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Mauricio Teixeira Leite
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: de Vasconcellos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001938:Brazil; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003267:Contraception; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires