A particular epidemiological profile: disparities in access to contraceptive methods in Brazil during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 14982 - 8
• Main Authors: Marcelino, Ana C., da Cunha Pereira, Paula, Charles, Charles M.’Poca, Bahamondes, Luis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-07-2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/700/1538; 692/700/478/174; Adult; Birth control; Brazil - epidemiology; Contraception; Contraception - statistics & numerical data; Contraception Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Contraceptives; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Epidemiology; Family planning; Female; Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data; Healthcare Disparities - statistics & numerical data; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; multidisciplinary; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Brazil
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65946-w

Our objective was to study disparities in access to contraception during the COVID-19 pandemic. We performed a cross-sectional study at the University of Campinas, Brazil using a Google questionnaire applied from December 2021 until February 2022, disseminated via snowball technique. The survey asked about sociodemographic characteristics and contraceptive use, as well as the demand for new methods and difficulties in continuing to use contraceptives during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed 1018 completed questionnaires; in total, 742 (72.9%) were women aged between 20 and 39 years, 746 (73.3%) were White and 602 (59.2%) used contraceptives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, about 23% of respondents changed their method and approximately 20% of respondents looked for new methods. Among the latter, 31.3% reported some difficulty with obtaining guidance on new methods while only 5.3% of the respondents reported some difficulty with continuing their contraceptive. The main difficulty in both cases was the difficulty with getting a healthcare provider appointment. Our results point to a particular epidemiological population, of younger black and biracial women, with lower education and lower income, which suffered health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic and found difficulties with using contraceptives and accessing family planning services.