Citation

Cezimbra GSS, Campos Junior D, Araujo Júnior E, Guazzelli CAF, Atallah AN. Int. J. Reprod. Med. 2020; 2020: e5237814.

Affiliation

Discipline of Evidence-Based Medicine, Paulista School of Medicine-Federal University of São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo-SP 04024-002, Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Hindawi Publishing)

DOI

10.1155/2020/5237814

PMID

32232063

PMCID

PMC7086447

Abstract

This cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the association between age at menarche in the adolescent population and the age at sexual initiation, age at first pregnancy, and experience of sexual violence in the adolescent population visiting a primary health unit in Brazil. We recruited 201 female adolescents who visited the gynecology outpatient clinic of a Basic Health Unit in the Federal District of Brazil. These adolescents answered a questionnaire with regard to sexual and reproductive health during doctor's appointments. To calculate the association, we recorded data for age at menarche, age at first sexual intercourse, age at first pregnancy, and experience of sexual violence. Pearson and Mann-Whitney correlation coefficient statistical tests were performed to evaluate the association between these variables. Mean age at menarche was lower among adolescents who became pregnant (p = 0.0004) and those who experienced sexual violence (p = 0.0008). Further, there was a strong association between age at menarche and age at first sexual intercourse (p < 0.0001). This study also demonstrated that the earlier the age at menarche, the earlier was the age at sexual initiation and age at first unintended pregnancy and the greater was the risk of experiencing sexual violence. Early menarche may be considered a vulnerability factor during adolescence.

Copyright © 2020 Giani Silvana Schwengber Cezimbra et al.

Language: en