Reproductive consequences of unwanted sexual debut among young adult women from Metro Cebu, Philippines

ABSTRACT

The circumstances surrounding sexual debut influence subsequent sexual and reproductive outcomes. We analysed longitudinal data from 397 women who participated in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey in Cebu, Philippines, to examine associations between unwanted first sex and number of pregnancies, unintended pregnancy, and use of modern contraception. 72% of women reported unwanted first sex. Women whose first sex was unwanted had increased odds of unintended pregnancy compared to women whose first sex was wanted (aOR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.3, 3.6). Nationally representative surveys should include culturally relevant questions about sexual debut to inform public health programmes aimed at improving sexual/reproductive health.

Acknowledgments

The authors are appreciative of the hard work and dedication of the CLHNS study staff, as well as the cooperation and patience of CLHNS participants, without whom we would not have been able to conduct this analysis. Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the California Center for Population Research at UCLA (CCPR), which receives core support (P2C- HD041022) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). J. Gipson would like to acknowledge funding from NICHD grant K01HD067677. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Notes

1. For more information on SACA methodology, see: Pearce LD. Integrating survey and ethnographic methods For Systematic Anomalous Case Analysis. Sociological Methodology. 2002 Jan;32(1):103.

2. See Table 2 for distributions and cross-tabulations of mistimed, unwanted, and the composite measure of “unintended” pregnancies by wantedness of first sex.