Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Adolescence: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Adolescence is a phase characterized by physical and behavioral changes that impact the sexual and reproductive health of individuals of both genders. While the World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescence as the period from 10 to 19 years old, in Brazil it is recognized as the age range from 12 to 18 years old. This distinction is important for epidemiological investigations, as well as the development of public policies, social programs, and targeted interventions. This work is grounded in an Integrative Review conducted from August 2019 to October 2019, utilizing electronic databases available in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, including the Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), Nursing Database BDENF, and PubMed. The review process involved several stages: formulating the main research question, selecting articles based on inclusion criteria, excluding irrelevant studies, evaluating the selected articles, interpreting the results, and presenting the integrative review. Through critical analysis of the literature, relevant information was extracted and validated by a researcher. A total of 10 articles were included in this study, sourced from various databases: 5 from VHL, 2 from SciELO, 2 from LILACS, 3 from PubMed, and 3 from BDENF. This study underscores the importance of adopting a clinical practice approach to enhance professional resourcefulness and suggests avenues for future research.