Autonomy in the reproductive health of quilombolas women and associated factors

Identify the level of reproductive autonomy of quilombola women and associate it with sociodemographic characteristics and aspects of sexual and reproductive health.

Methods:

Cross-sectional census study carried out in quilombola communities in a municipality in Bahia. Data was collected through questionnaires from the National Health Survey and the Reproductive Autonomy Scale, applied to quilombola women who agreed to participate. Descriptive statistics procedures were used and associations were made between reproductive autonomy scores and sociodemographic and reproductive characteristics.

Results:

The average total score for reproductive autonomy was 2.06. An association was found between the “decision-making” score and marital status. The score for “total reproductive autonomy” was associated with the use of contraceptive method.

Conclusion:

The reality of the study participants converges with the literature regarding the interference of sociodemographic and reproductive factors in the reproductive autonomy of black women.

Descriptors:
Reproductive Health; Personal Autonomy; African Continental Ancestry Group; Socioeconomic Factors; Women

Factor (subscale)	Mean	Standard deviation	Minimum - maximum
Decision-making	2.40	0.35	1.25 - 3.00
Absence of coercion	1.90	0.47	1.00 - 3.00
Communication	1.95	0.49	1.00 - 3.20
Total	2.06	0.30	1.36 - 2.64

Variable	Decision-making	Absence of coercion	Communication	Total
Age (Spearman correlation)	- 0.07 (p = 0.420)	0.14 (p = 0.084)	- 0.01 (p = 0.922)	0.04 (p = 0.608)
Marital status
Single/without partner	2.55 ± 0.35	1.86 ± 0.45	2.00 ± 0.51	2.11 ± 0.29
Married/with partner	2.34 ± 0.33	1.91 ± 0.48	1.93 ± 0.48	2.04 ± 0.30
^ * Mann-Whitney Test; p* value	< 0.001	0.417	0.255	0.262
Education level
< Elementary school	2.37 ± 0.43	1.92 ± 0.57	1.90 ± 0.41	2.04 ± 0.30
Elementary school	2.44 ± 0.28	1.95 ± 0.47	2.00 ± 0.54	2.11 ± 0.28
Middle school	2.32 ± 0.35	1.87 ± 0.44	1.99 ± 0.49	2.04 ± 0.30
≥ High school	2.44 ± 0.35	1.84 ± 0.43	1.88 ± 0.48	2.03 ± 0.31
^† † Kruskal-Wallis test. p value	0.348	0.818	0.523	0.480
Color/race
Black	2.39 ± 0.36	1.89 ± 0.48	1.94 ± 0.49	2.05 ± 0.31
Non-black	2.41 ± 0.33	1.91 ± 0.46	1.96 ± 0.49	2.07 ± 0.28
^ * Mann-Whitney Test; p* value	0.828	0.329	0.873	0.464
Religion (%)
Others	2.35 ± 0.45	1.90 ± 0.39	1.96 ± 0.49	2.05 ± 0.34
Catholic	2.41 ± 0.33	1.90 ± 0.48	1.94 ± 0.49	2.06 ± 0.29
^ * Mann-Whitney Test; p* value	0.852	0.645	0.633	0.693
Occupation
Farm worker/housewife	2.38 ± 0.35	1.89 ± 0.48	1.93 ± 0.50	2.04 ± 0.30
Others	2.50 ± 0.32	1.91 ± 0.43	2.01 ± 0.45	2.12 ± 0.29
^ * Mann-Whitney Test; p* value	0.067	0.991	0.382	0.393
Monthly income (Spearman correlation)	0.11 (p = 0.183)	- 0.06 (p = 0.432)	- 0.04 (p = 0.603)	- 0.03 (p = 0.701)

Variable	Decision-making	Absence of coercion	Communication	Total
Age at first menstruation (Spearman correlation)	0.03 (p = 0.697)	0.00 (p = 0.961)	- 0.06 (p = 0.506)	0.02 (p = 0.076)
Last preventive exam
Never had /> 2 years	2.38 ± 0.36	1.91 ± 0.41	2.04 ± 0.48	2.09 ± 0.26
≤ 2 years	2.42 ± 0.33	1.88 ± 0.52	1.86 ± 0.49	2.03 ± 0.33
^ * Mann-Whitney test. p* value	0.593	0.727	0.024	0.381
Sexual intercourse in the last 12 months
No	2.45 ± 0.34	1.84 ± 0.47	2.19 ± 0.43	2.14 ± 0.30
Yes	2.39 ± 0.35	1.90 ± 0.47	1.91 ± 0.49	2.05 ± 0.30
^ * Mann-Whitney test. p* value	0.480	0.501	0.008	0.147
Family planning group participation in the last 12 months
No	2.40 ± 0.35	1.90 ± 0.46	1.96 ± 0.48	2.07 ± 0.29
Yes	2.39 ± 0.31	1.85 ± 0.54	1.85 ± 0.57	2.00 ± 0.34
^ * Mann-Whitney test. p* value	0.607	0.762	0.288	0.792
Use of method to prevent pregnancy
No	2.38 ± 0.39	1.94 ± 0.45	2.11 ± 0.43	2.13 ± 0.27
Yes	2.42 ± 0.30	1.85 ± 0.49	1.79 ± 0.49	1.99 ± 0.31
^ * Mann-Whitney test. p* value	0.879	0.220	< 0.001	0.008
Already got pregnant
No	2.44 ± 0.32	1.90 ± 0.39	2.11 ± 0.40	2.13 ± 0.24
Yes	2.39 ± 0.35	1.90 ± 0.49	1.91 ± 0.50	2.04 ± 0.31
^ * Mann-Whitney test. p* value	0.542	0.834	0.044	0.180

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[1] Corresponding author: Elionara Teixeira Boa Sorte Fernandes. E-mail: naratbsorte@gmail.com