Knowledge of university students about the risks and benefits associated with combined oral contraceptives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1679-9836.v99i5p423-431Keywords:
Knowledge, Combined Oral Contraceptives, Risks and benefits, Medical Students, Women's Health, Contraceptives, oral, combined, Risk assessment, Students, medicalAbstract
Type of study: Descriptive cross-sectional observational study. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of university students concerning the risks and benefits associated to combined oral contraceptives (COC). Methods: The study group consisted of a convenience sample of female medical students. Data was collected from October to November 2017 through a structured, self-applying questionnaire consisting of 30 questions divided into sociodemographic data, contraceptive antecedents and knowledge of risks and benefits associated with the use of COC. Results: 86 university students participated in this study. Most of them were aged between 18 and 25 years (76.74%), were COC users (86.05%) and started using it by medical indication (94.59%). Few of them knew the beneficial effects of COCs in the reduction of endometrial (31.40%), ovarian (18.60%) and colorectal (8.14%) cancers. On the other hand, knowledge of the risks of deep vein thrombosis (97.67%) and stroke (88.37%) was satisfactory. Additionally, more than half of the university students associated the use of COC with weight gain (56.98%). Conclusion: The imbalance between knowledge about COC risks and benefits cannot be underestimated, and it is relevant that health professionals identify COC benefits and side effects misconceptions in order to provide an effective contraceptive counselling.
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