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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Leo Morris, PhD, MPH¹, Ndola Prata, MD, MSc², Mercedes Melian³, Cynthia Prieto³, and Farnaz Vahidnia, MD, MPH². (1) Division of Reproductive Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clinton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, 770-488-5200, lxm1@cdc.gov, (2) University of California, Berkeley, 314 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, (3) Centro Paraguay de Estudios de Poblacion, Av. Peru 1284, Asuncion, Paraguay

Reproductive Health Surveys (RHS)in Paraguay over a 19 year period (1987, 1995, 1998, 2004) provide the longest series of trend data for sexual experience and use of contraception by adolescents and young adults of any country in Latin America. The surveys were household based studies with face to face interviews. The surveys included 875, 2136, 1351 and 2973 young adult women, respectively from 1987 until 2004. More than one-half of adolescents and young adult women 15-24 years of age reported that they have had sexual relations and 54% of them had premarital sex at the time of their first sexual experience; 91% of sexually experienced young adults had their first sexual experience before 20 years of age. Premarital sexual experience had significantly increased from 35% in 1987 to 54% in 2004 among sexually experienced young adults. The proportion of young women (or their partner) using contraception at their first premarital sexual experience increased by almost 10 percentage points in the first three surveys and by more than 20 percentage points to 58% in 2004. Condoms are the principal method used. About 80% of young adult women report receiving lectures on sex education in or out of the school environment representing an important increase over previous surveys. Multivariate analysis to study determinants of contraceptive use at first sex explore marital status at first intercourse, education, age, residence, relationship to first partner, the length of relationship, discussion about contraception, sex education and whether the first sexual relation was consensual.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe reproductive health status of adolescents and young adult women in Paraguay.
• 2. Assess trends in premarital sex experience among young women in Paraguay.
• 3. Identify determinants of contraceptive use at first sexual experience.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation