More than 70 percent of Spanish women use contraceptive methods during their first sexual relationship, although this value is different according to the autonomous communities and the level of study of the respondents, according to a study published in the journalHealth and Place.
The study has been carried out with more than 5,000 sexually active women between 15 and 49 years old and residents in Spain. “Taking into account the individual factors of women involved in the use of contraception,living in one or another autonomous community also influencesin its use, “Dolores Ruiz Muñoz, a researcher at the Barcelona Public Health Agency and author of the study, explained to SINC. Basque Country women use the most contraceptives – 76.7 percent – and Murcian women, with 55.8 percent, the lowest In the Community of Madrid, 73.3 percent were women who claimed to have used contraceptives in the first sexual relationship.
The researchers found that the use of contraceptives is also related to the poverty level of the families and to theeducational levelWomen’s. “The use of contraceptives during the first sexual relationship was more common among non-religious women born in enriched countries who had a higher level of education and who had their first sexual experience between the ages of 18 and 19,” Ruiz Muñoz has indicated.
In addition, the study has also analyzed the use of contraceptives in the last month, and has found that this was more frequent in the cases of young women, who did not cohabit with anyone, with children or with a high educational level. The authors point out the importance of making sex education available to all population strata, and insist that there are currently inequalities between communities in the ease of access to contraceptive methods.
