Teenagers vulnerabilities in relation with HIV/AIDS: an integrative revision

Abstract

Introduction: The infection of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a global phenomenon which incidence depends on political, economical, social and cultural factors; being an huge challenge of health. The adolescence is characterized by intense changes. The teenager starts to consolidate values and concepts, being influenced by culture, media and the society. The HIV vulnerability covers coletive and individual aspects, favoring the transmission of the virus by several ways. Objective: Describe the teenagers vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Method: It is an integrative revision, of descriptive type. The data was collected from the scientific works in the databases: LILACS BDENF and MEDLINE. The used descriptors were: Vulnerability, HIV, AIDS, Teenagers. The inclusion criteria used were: papers published in portuguese, english and spanish, with full availability, in the original paper format, and published in the period of 2007-2016. To develop the research was defined the guiding question: Which are the vulnerabilities of teenagers to HIV/AIDS? Results: With the use of the descriptores 151 articles were found, after the use of the filters 21 articles remained, however 15 were excluded due duplicity, due to not attend to the research objective, remaining 6 articles to using in the development of the research. Discussion: The articles showed that the vulnerabilities to HIV of the teenagers are due: insufficient knowledge, ambivalence in the understanding of the disease, precocious starting of the sex life, use of drugs, the HIV symptoms arise belatedly, the precarious use of the condom due to stable relationships, immaturity, using of contraceptive pill, and presuming that is not susceptible to the virus. Final considerations: The higher vulnerability of the teenagers occurs because no condom use and knowledge lack about the means of the transmission of HIV. The health professional should contribute holistically in the preventive steps implementation and promote educative actions along the health services.