Family planning, guaranteed by Law No. 9.263/96, consists of a program that covers actions
aimed at guiding men and women regarding conception and contraception, implemented in
primary care linked to the Family Health Strategy team. However, despite the fact that health
care is offered free of charge, it is still difficult to universalize access, especially in regions
further away from large urban centers. Based on this, this cross-sectional study, with a
quantitative approach, aims to identify the prevalence of contraceptive use in women treated at
the Ribeirinha Basic Health Unit in the municipality of Coari-Amazonas. Data was collected
by applying a semi-structured instrument containing closed questions, during the waiting period
for care at the Ribeirinha Basic Health Unit, with women aged 18 years or older, who agreed
to take part in the research and signed the Informed Consent Form (ICF) acknowledging their
participation, with due knowledge of their rights, after receiving approval from the Research
Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Amazonas. Absolute and relative frequencies
and descriptive statistics were used to outline the profile of the sample and to show the variables,
using the Statistic Package for Social Sciences (SPSS®) program, version 21.0. A total of 238
women took part in the survey, of whom 123 (51.7%) used some form of contraception, the
majority had a steady partner or were married (75.6%), aged between 18 and 39 (70.7%), with
incomplete primary education (31.7%) and complete secondary education (31.7%), and a
family income of less than one minimum wage (92.7%). The most commonly used means of
transportation is the scooter (59.4%), with a travel time of 4 hours or more (45.5%), and
estimated expenses per trip of between 20 and 200 reais (70.7%). The most commonly used
contraceptive methods were injectables (45.5%), tubal ligation (26.8%) and oral contraceptives
(18.7%), and the most common way of acquiring contraceptives was at the UBS (43.1%).
Regarding the women's knowledge of the function of the contraceptive method, 206 (86.6%)
knew what it was for, referring to the purpose of avoiding unwanted pregnancies (86.6%) and
sexually transmitted infections (70.2%). With regard to Family Planning, 159 women (66.8%)
know about the program, but only 42 (17.6%) take part. A total of 79 (33.2%) of these women
were unaware of family planning. Finally, the research enabled us to understand the knowledge
and attitudes of riverine women regarding the use of contraceptive methods, the factors that
interfere with participation in PLAFAM, and sexual and reproductive behavior. The need for
health promotion actions for this social group was demonstrated, according to their socio-
cultural conditions, activities that provide opportunities to formulate changes in their behaviors
and health care practices.
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