Health literacy of adolescents using hormonal contraceptives and associated factors.

According to data from the United Nations report, in 2021, approximately 13.3 million babies were born to mothers under the age of 20. The Latin America and Caribbean region had the second highest level of adolescent fertility, with a mean rate of 53 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19. The most recent data from Brazil, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, indicate an adolescent birth rate of, on average, 43 births per 1,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 19, a figure higher than the overall mean in 2022. One way to prevent adolescent pregnancy is through the use of contraceptive methods, and among those available, hormonal contraceptives are widely used among adolescents. According to the Brazilian National School Health Survey (In Portuguese, - PeNSE), conducted in 2019 with more than 159,000 students aged 13 to 17, the contraceptive method used by most students was the birth control pill (52.6%), followed by the morning-after pill (17.3%). In the state of Ceará, taking the last sexual encounter as a reference, 60.6% of students reported using oral contraceptives, the third-highest mean in Brazil. However, irregular and inappropriate use of contraceptive methods is common. In a study of adolescent girls from 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, participants’ reported knowledge of contraceptives was only superficial, and researchers noted that this same information could be incorrect and misleading, especially if sourced from unreliable sources. Furthermore, even with good knowledge of contraceptives, adolescents often encountered barriers to use, such as stigma, discrimination, and fear of adverse effects.