Prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and its relationship with the academic dropout of students in the Ernesto Velásquez Kuffo educational unit, Manabí, 2018-2019

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy at an early age represents a public health problem worldwide that compromises its development at a personal and professional level, in many cases there is abandonment of studies. Objective: To determine the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and its relationship with the academic dropout of students in the Ernesto Velásquez Kuffo Educational Unit of the Barraganete parish, Pichincha canton, Manabí province, during the 2018-2019 school year. Methodology: The research design was non-experimental, descriptive and cross-sectional. The modality was quantitative and the analytical-synthetic and inductive-deductive method. The population consisted of 27 pregnant adolescents, no sampling formula was used, the survey was used for data collection and a semi-structured questionnaire with 10 questions was used as an instrument. The data processing was carried out with the SPSS version 25 program. Results: There was evidence of an 81.5% prevalence of academic dropout in pregnant adolescents from the research context educational unit; The main causes of academic dropout were family dysfunction in 29.6%, lack of partner support in 22.2%, and problems with peers in 18.5%; Finally, there was a relationship between the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and academic dropout, mainly in marital status (p=0.000) and the various causes (p=0.002). Conclusion: There is an association of adolescent pregnancy with the dropout of studies, therefore it is suggested to continue carrying out actions focused on improving the knowledge of adolescents about sexual and reproductive health.