Contraceptive methods used by women residents in the southern region of the São Paulo city. A study type KAP; Knowledge, attitude and practice

Objective: The Brazil suffered a quick and intense decline of fertility in the last 40 years. In the last 20 years the young man had more access to information about sexual matters. In the late 80 occurred the advent of AIDS and the precocity of sexual initiation among teenagers in the last decade have been observed. Thus, the present work proposed to verify the level of knowledge and use of contraceptive methods among women residing in the region South of São Paulo city. Methods: Enquiry study type KAP; Knowledge, attitude and practice in 40 women between 14 to 50 years was performed in the South of São Paulo city. Results: Among the women interviewed, 66% showed 14 to 30 age years. The education level of the respondents was 37% with upper level incomplete and 36% with upper level complete totaling 73% of respondents. Concerning to the different contraceptives methods presented, it was noted that 34% make use of the pill as a hormonal oral contraceptive and 33% use the male condom as barrier contraceptive, making a total of 67%. Discussion: It became apparent by this study the low knowledge about the female condom, as well as its use as a contraceptive barrier method by female respondents (8%). It was also observed that 98% of women interviewed ever had guidance on sexually transmitted diseases (Std). These findings suggest a strong association between the practice of contraceptives methods used to the best levels of schooling, since the access to information in schools, universities and lectures totaled 62.5% of the interviewed woman. Conclusions: We highlight the importance of Public Sectors of health and Social Welfare as the guidance to family planning and sex education, as well as a larger number of public campaigns which cover this subject of great importance for society. The need of more investments in education, with emphasis on sexuality in adolescence and in the knowledge of the use of contraceptives is also important