Factors Influencing high adolescent pregnancy rate in Riobamba, Ecuador

[摘要] The country of Ecuador has the highest rate ofadolescent pregnancy in Latin America and theCaribbean. Risk factors associated with thispregnancy rate need to be explored toeffectively implement educational youthprograms.1 Early sexual initiation, poorreproductive health knowledge, and disruption offamily structure are hypothesized to be majorrisk factors of adolescent (<20 years)motherhood (AMH) in Riobamba, Ecuador.2 Weconducted a case-control study with case beingwomen <20 years of age during first pregnancyand control being women ≥20 years of ageduring first pregnancy. Controls were notmatched. The study took place in June/July of2021 in five public governmental primary healthclinics within Riobamba, Ecuador with theprimary goal of determining risk factorsassociated with AMH. Age responses were usedto designate group status. Risk factors wereanalyzed using Welch’s two-sample t-tests andFisher’s Exact tests. 198 participants were analyzed: 99 who had AMH and 99 who hadnon-AMH. Adolescent mothers were significantlyyounger during first sexual encounter than adultmothers. Adolescent mothers were also morelikely to lack reproductive health knowledge andhave a disruption in family structure. While ourstudy was able to broadly explore the riskfactors for AMH, the underlying causes of theserisk factors, such as societal pressures, need tobe examined further. Early education aboutsexual health and use of contraception shouldbe an initial goal of Riobamba’s programs toreduce AMH.

[学科分类] 妇产科学

[关键词] Ecuador;Latin America;adolescent medicine;adolescent pregnancy