Objective:

To characterize the knowledge and practice regarding the use of condoms by high school female students from a public school in the state of Sergipe, Brazil.

Materials and method:

Cross-sectional research carried out at a public school in the state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil. Data collection was performed between February and March 2017 at the school with the highest number of adolescents enrolled from the state.

Results:

The mean age among the 94 participants of the study was 17.3 years (SD: 1.2). Most adolescents reported a monthly family income of up to one minimum wage (61.3 %). The predominant religion in the sample was Catholicism (74.5 %). Only 4.3 % of these adolescents reported having a child and one of them was pregnant at the time of data collection (1.1 %). As for sexual initiation, 51.1 % of the participants reported they had not had their first sexual intercourse, while 48.9 % had an active sexual life. The highest frequency of sexual intercourse and condom use was found among those who reported alcohol consumption (40 [42.5 %]; p < 0.05). Finally, 92.6 % of the participants knew and had already visualized the male condom, while only 62.8 % stated the same for the female condom.

Conclusions:

The adolescents that participated in this study show a weak knowledge about condoms and adopt unsafe sexual practices. Therefore, it becomes essential to develop sexual education strategies aimed at improving the knowledge and skills regarding this issue among the studied population.

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