Contraception knowledge and sexual behaviour in secondary school students

Aim. To analyse the level of knowledge about contraception and the sexual behaviour in high school students from different educational institutions (public and private). Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three high schools in an urban school district. Participants were 136 boys and 145 girls from a school-based contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STI) screening programme. Participants completed a structured, self-administered, confidential questionnaire about their health behaviours, contraception knowledge and sexuality. Results. A total of 21% of the students from the low socioeconomic group did not have enough knowledge about contraception, 45% had already had their first sexual intercourse when they were between 12 and 15 years old, 67% had not used in this occasion any kind of contraceptive method and about 37% continued being sexually active. In contrast, all the students (100%) in the high and 63% in the middle socio-economic group had used contraceptive methods in their first sexual relation. Parents, community members, and friends were the most important sources of information. Condoms (99%) and pills (95%) were the most well-known contraceptive methods. Conclusions. We found that substantial numbers of youths from the public school, with the lowest incomes, received less information and had insufficient general information on contraception, knew less about the role of condoms in the prevention of STI and referred not knowing or thinking it was not necessary to have a medical control before starting to use oral contraceptives.