The downstream effects of Covid-19 on adolescent girls in the Peruvian Amazon

Qualitative findings on how the pandemic affected education and reproductive health

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21881366
AutoresLisa L Woodson (0000-0003-4892-909X, University of Arizona, autor correspondente), Adriana Garcia Saldivar (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia), Heidi E Brown (0000-0001-8578-5510, University of Arizona), Priscilla Magrath (0000-0001-8526-458X, University of Arizona), Nicolas Antunez de Mayolo (0009-0001-1935-5333, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia), Sydney Pettygrove (0000-0001-6877-8490, University of Arizona), Leslie V Farland (0000-0001-7455-8531, University of Arizona), Purnima Madhivanan (0000-0001-7818-3394, University of Arizona), Magaly M Blas (0000-0002-3008-1695, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia)
Ano2024
Volume9
Fascículo4
Páginase012391
Data de publicação2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoBMJ Global Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2059-7908 • E-ISSN: 2059-7908
EditoraBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012391
PMID38688564
OpenAlexW4396243842
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas31

Due to COVID-19, schools were closed to mitigate disease spread. Past studies have shown that disruptions in education have unintended consequences for adolescents, including increasing their risk of school dropout, exploitation, gender-based violence, pregnancy and early unions. In Peru, the government closed schools from March 2020 to March 2022, declaring a national emergency that affected an estimated 8 million children. These closures may have unintended consequences, including increased adolescent pregnancy, particularly in Peru’s rural, largely indigenous regions. Loreto, located in the Peruvian Amazon, has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the country and poor maternal and child health outcomes. The underlying causes may not be fully understood as data are limited, especially as we transition out of the pandemic. This qualitative study investigated the downstream effects of COVID-19 on adolescent education and reproductive health in Loreto’s districts of Nauta and Parinari. In-depth interviews (n=41) were conducted with adolescents and community leaders. These were held in June 2022, 3 months after the reinstitution of in-person classes throughout Peru. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also completed with community health workers and educators from the same study area in October 2022 to supplement our findings (3 FGDs, n=15). We observed that the economic, educational and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to reduced contraceptive use, and increased school abandonment, early unions and adolescent pregnancy. The interplay between adolescent pregnancy and both early unions and school abandonment was bidirectional, with each acting as both a cause and consequence of the other

Disease · Environmental health · Family planning · Focus group · Indigenous · Pandemic · Population · Pregnancy · Public health · Qualitative research · Reproductive health · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Unintended pregnancy · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · COVID-19 Impact on Reproduction · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Nursing