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The interruption of pregnancy amongst adolescents: epidemiologic aspects in a public (stately run) maternity in northeast Brazil

The induced abortion is widely practiced by women in the context illegal in Brazil, considered a public health issue. To understand the complications and the clinical, behavioral and socio-demographic aspects and type of abortion in adolescents undergoing uterine curettage. A descriptive method based on interviews using a structured questionnaire related to the care of 201 adolescents with incomplete abortion and that underwent curettage in a hospital of the Health System, Maceió - Alagoas. Adolescents at risk of causing abortion are over sixteen, brown, with a stable partner, with either a wanted or an unwanted first pregnancy, gestational age less than 15 weeks; rare complications related to abortion, and the classification of World Health Organization, induced abortion in 98.01% of cases. Among the certainly caused miscarriages, 89.19% reported the use of misoprostol, which enhance greater public investment in assisting the use of contraceptives among adolescents by respecting their sexual and reproductive rights.

Abortion; Adolescent; Epidemiology; Provoked Abortion; Reproductive Health


Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo. Associação Paulista de Saúde Pública. Av. dr. Arnaldo, 715, Prédio da Biblioteca, 2º andar sala 2, 01246-904 São Paulo - SP - Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 11 3061-7880 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
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