[abortion Among Female Students And Employees Of A Brazilian University].

In Brazil, the subject of induced abortion is controversial and considered by some to be a serious public health problem. On the other hand there are little data available as to its frequency and general characteristics. The difficulty encountered in obtaining reliable information is to be explained by the illegality of abortion that inhibits women from talking about their experience, and most studies are carried out in hospitals and thus succeed in identifying only those women who have complications. A study was carried out in 1990, involving all the female graduate students and employees of a Brazilian university. Data was obtained through a questionnaire that was returned by mail, anonymously. This paper presents some of the results relating to the frequency of miscarriage and abortion in this population. Significantly more students than employees were less than 25 years old (85% and 13.7% respectively); fewer students were married or in a common-law union (11% of students as against 56% of employees) and four times fewer students than employees had never been pregnant (15% and 65%). Nine percent of the students and 14% of the employees had had at least one abortion. When only sometime pregnant women were taken into consideration, over half the students (59%) and 20% of the employees had had an abortion. Differences between the two groups were maintained when considered by age, both for miscarriage and abortion. Students of less than 25 years of age presented the highest percentage of abortion.27113-

[urinary Incontinence Among Climateric Brazilian Women: Household Survey].

To investigate the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence and its associated factors in perimenopause women using a population-based household survey. A descriptive, exploratory cross-sectional population-based study with secondary analysis of a population-based household survey on perimenopause and menopause was conducted among women living in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Through a sampling process, 456 women between 45 and 60 years old were selected. Complaints of urinary incontinence and related risk factors, such as age, socioeconomic status, education level, race, parity, smoking habits, body mass index, previous gynecological surgeries, menopausal status, and hormonal replacement therapy were explored. Data were collected through home interviews using an adapted version of the structured pre-tested questionnaire elaborated by the International Health Foundation, International Menopause Society and the American Menopause Society. Statistical analysis were performed using prevalence rates (CI 95%). Thirty-five percent of the interviewees referred stress urinary incontinence. None of the sociodemographic factors studied was associated to the risk of urinary incontinence. In addition, parity did not significantly change the risk of urinary incontinence. Other factors, such as previous gynecological surgeries, body mass index, and smoking habits, were not associated with the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence. Also, menopausal status and hormonal replacement therapy did not change the risk of stress urinary incontinence. Though there was a high prevalence of stress urinary incontinence among perimenopause women, there was not found any associations with sociodemographic and reproductive factors.35428-3

Adequação do uso de pílula anticoncepcional entre mulheres unidas

A total of 2,364 women in marital union, 15 to 49 years of age, were interviewed at home. They lived in poor neighbourhoods in the metropolitan area and in the interior of S. Paulo State, Brazil. The prevalence of contraceptive pill use and the association between socio-demographic characteristics of users and the presence or not of risk factors for pill use were studied. One fourth (25.8 percent) of the women interviewed were using contraceptive pills. Prevalence was higher among younger women, those with no more than one live child and those who had completed between three and eight grades of schooling. Over 40 percent of the users referred having risk factors for pill use at the time they initiated the method. No association was found between age and the percentage of women with risk factors. This percentage increased with number of children and decreased with women's schooling. The fact that pills were prescribed or obtained through the health system was not associated with the proportion of users with risk factors. The percentage of users with risk factors was similar when comparing women who did not consult any health service before initiating use with those who had consulted a public service. The prevalence of use observed in this study is similar to that described by other authors. Results show that the health system in the State of S. Paulo played no role in the improvement in the prescription of hormonal contraceptive pills. Central policy seemed not to have filtered down to the peripheral areas of the system.Foram entrevistadas em seus domicílios 2.364 mulheres unidas de 15 a 49 anos de idade, que moravam em bairros de baixa renda, na área metropolitana e no interior do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Estudou-se a prevalência de uso da pílula contraceptiva, a associação entre algumas características sócio-demográficas das usuárias e a presença ou não de fatores de risco para seu uso. Verificou-se que 25,8% das mulheres usavam pílula anticoncepcional. A prevalência de uso foi maior entre as mais jovens, entre as com até um filho vivo e nas com 5ª a 8ª séries de escolaridade. Mais de 40% das usuárias referiram apresentar fatores de risco ao iniciar o uso. Não se verificou associação entre a idade e a percentagem de mulheres com fatores de risco. Essa percentagem aumentou com o número de filhos e diminuiu com a escolaridade da mulher. A presença de fatores de risco foi igualmente freqüente entre as mulheres que não consultaram nenhum serviço de saúde para iniciar o uso como entre aquelas que consultaram em serviços públicos. As políticas do nível central não parecem ter atingido a periferia do sistema