Uso de contraceptivo de emergência por estudantes de enfermagem de uma universidade pública do interior do Amazonas

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency contraceptives are methods used to prevent unwanted pregnancy, a public health issue present in both developed and developing countries. Currently, it is common for women, especially younger ones and those who begin their sexual lives early, to resort to this type of contraceptive without the supervision or guidance of a healthcare professional, which can compromise its effectiveness and pose risks to reproductive health. Objectives: To evaluate the use of CE among nursing students at a public university in the municipality of Coari-Am. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted with university students of the nursing course at the Institute of Health and Biotechnology in the city of Coari/AM. Recruitment took place in classrooms of all periods of the nursing course. The questionnaire consists of the following information: sociodemographic and health determinants and behavioral aspects. The absolute and relative frequencies of the variables were presented in tables. The analyses were performed using SPSS (version 20.0) for Windows.Results: it was found that 59.5% of the students had already resorted to emergency contraception (EC), 57.1% used it on their own, and in 19.0% there were irregular bleeding, nausea, vomiting, breast tenderness, and abdominal pain as side effects. Conclusion: The results showed that the students have knowledge of the method, but they still continue to make indiscriminate use of it.