Educational intervention with comics about contraceptives for adolescents: quasi-experimental study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• Health Education

Background:

• Adolescent pregnancy remains a significant public health concern globally.
• Effective contraceptive knowledge is crucial for preventing unintended pregnancies among teenagers.
• Traditional educational methods may not always engage adolescents effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a comic book intervention on adolescents' knowledge of contraceptive methods.
• To evaluate the short-term retention of this knowledge following the educational intervention.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental study involving 62 high school adolescents in Maceió-AL.
• Knowledge assessment occurred at four time points: pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 7-day post-intervention, and 15-day post-intervention.
• Statistical analyses included Friedman, Wilcoxon, and McNemar tests to compare knowledge scores.

Main Results:

• Adolescents demonstrated significantly higher contraceptive knowledge scores at all three post-intervention time points compared to the pre-test (p<0.001).
• Knowledge scores remained stable between the immediate post-test and the 7-day and 15-day post-tests (p>0.108).
• The comic book intervention led to sustained knowledge improvement for up to 15 days.

Conclusions:

• The comic book "Methods of contraception: I'm young and I don't want to have a baby yet" is an effective tool for enhancing adolescent knowledge of contraception.
• This educational resource shows potential for improving contraceptive use and reducing unintended pregnancies in adolescents.
• Comic-based interventions offer a promising, engaging approach to sexual and reproductive health education for young people.